The Color Purple (Blitz Bazawule) came back in a bold way for the 2023 generation of theatre goers. 

A blend of Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film and the Broadway musical. Francine Jamison-Tanchuck’s costume design is vibrant, detailed, exquisite,  all the while playing  part in telling a story through the arc of the characters. 

I had the fortune to assist Francine on Jim Sheridan’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” almost 20 years ago. Aggie Rodgers who I refer to as one one my Costume Fairy Godmothers, costume designed the original Color Purple where coincidentally Francine was the Costume Supervisor: Women…talk about full circle!

A few articles that does the work justice:

https://www.motionpictures.org/2023/12/the-color-purple-costume-designer-francine-jamison-tanchucks-stunning-creations-2/

https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/a46244504/the-color-purple-movie-costumes-interview-2023/

https://aframe.oscars.org/news/post/francine-jamison-tanchuck-the-color-purple-interview

2024 saw Francine receive recognition for  Outstanding Costume Design for The Color Purple at the NCAAP Image Awards and honoured with the Career Achievement Award at the 26th annual Costume Designer’s Guild Awards.

I came across this Vogue article from 2015 and recalled how in awe of  “Beasts of No Nation”  I was when I viewed it at TIFF that September. Having travelled extensively through Africa - thankfully passing through a war torn zone wasn’t one of my experiences - I wondered what it would have been like working on it. 

Aside from insights into the costuming, designer Jenny Eagan shares some of the challenges of location filming on that project.

www.vogue.com/article/beasts-of-no-nation-costume-designer-jenny-eagan

For further reading on real world filming, here’s a link to CAFTCAD’s current issue of BeSpoke magazine. “The Perils and Pleasures of Location Shooting” was written by me.

I have yet to see this “Poor Things”  but found the thought process behind costuming Emma Stone’s character brilliant.

www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/poor-things-costume-designer-interview

March 10, 2024  #HollyWaddington won the Oscar for her brilliant work on #PoorThings. I viewed this film a couple of months ago and was in awe of the creative collaboration.