Shirley Kurata

Shirley Kurata is an American wardrobe stylist and costume designer based in Los Angeles, California. She is a nominee for the 2023 Academy Award for Best Costume Design, for her work on the indie film Everything Everywhere All at Once.[1]

Early life and education

Born in Los Angeles, Kurata grew up in the San Gabriel Valley,[2] the youngest of four children.[3] Her parents owned a laundromat.[3] She is Japanese American,[4] and says that she was influenced by the "quirky and daring" fashions she saw in Japanese magazines.[2] She studied fashion in Paris when she was 19.[2]

Career

Kurata's clients have included celebrities such as Billie Eilish, Lena Dunham, Pharrell Williams, and Zooey Deschanel.[3][2][5] She has styled advertising campaigns for Kenzo and Oliver Peoples,[2] and has styled collections for designer Peter Jensen.[4] In 2015, she opened Virgil Normal, a streetwear boutique in East Hollywood featuring gender-neutral clothing, with Charlie Staunton.[2]

For Everything Everywhere All at Once, Kurata designed multiple looks for actors including Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu, and Jamie Lee Curtis, as their characters traveled from the "main" universe to other parts of the multiverse.[6][3] According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kurata "subverted and reclaimed Asian-centric tropes" in styling the "outrageously outfitted personas" of Hsu's character, villain Jobu Tupaki,[7] whom Kurata has said she relates to.[3] Jobu Tupaki's many looks in the film include "Golfer Jobu" who wears a pink argyle vest and socks.[7] Another is "Goth Jobu", who wears an "all-black and a vinyl A-line miniskirt over a sheer tulle petticoat", which Hollywood Reporter notes is "a twist on anime cosplay's Victorian doll-inspired Elegant Gothic Lolita."[7] Yet another look is "Jobu K-Pop Star", influenced by K-pop and Harajuku street style.[7] CBS News said the film's "gravitas" would not have been possible "without the creative vision behind the film's amazing (and often universe-defying) costumes – Shirley Kurata".[8]

Kurata has characterized her own aesthetic as "futuristic folky".[2]

References
  1. Botelho, Renan (January 24, 2023). "Best Costume Design Oscar Nominees 2023: A Closer Look". Women's Wear Daily. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  2. Matthew, Zoie; Wakim, Marielle (August 22, 2018). "Meet 13 Powerful Women Who Are Making L.A. a Better Place". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  3. Hallock, Betty (June 7, 2022). "The Costume Designer at the Center of the Universes". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  4. Beker, Jeanne (February 9, 2016). "Japanese-American stylist Shirley Kurata on being both a collaborator and a muse". The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Ontario. Retrieved 2023-01-27 – via ProQuest.
  5. Andrews-Dyer, Helena (January 25, 2016). "Meet the stylist behind Lena Dunham's Hillary Clinton campaign looks". Washington Post Blog. Retrieved 2023-01-27 – via ProQuest.
  6. Seitz, Loree (January 3, 2023). "'Everything Everywhere All at Once': How Costume Designer Shirley Kurata Outfitted the Multiverse". The Wrap Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  7. Soo Hoo, Fawnia (December 5, 2022). "The Most Chaotic Fashions Across the Metaverse". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  8. Jones, Zoe Christen (April 28, 2022). "'My kind of crazy': Costume designer Shirley Kurata on how 'Everything Everywhere' found its look". CBS News. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.