Film and television costumes help the actors convey the story—and help them create the character. Costumes can transport the audience to a specific time period from the past, create a fantasy world in the future or ground the story in the contemporary world of today.

It’s award-show season, and costume designers are being recognized for the artistic flair that they bring to the world of entertainment. On Feb. 25, the Costume Designers Guild held its 12th Annual Awards to honor the outstanding film and television costume designs of 2009. The event precedes the March 7 Academy Awards, when costume designers will again be honored for their work in recent films. 

At the star-studded Costume Designers Guild Awards Gala, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, designers were recognized by their peers for their talents and contributions to costume design.

Celebs and renowned names in film and television—including Nicole Kidman, Alan Cummings, Nancy Sinatra, Loni Anderson and Rob Marshall—turned out for the event. Awards were given across all categories of film and television costume design. In addition, the Costume Designers Guild honored actress Emily Blunt with the Swarovski Award and Kidman presented director Rob Marshall with the Distinguished Collaborator Award. Costume designers—including Sandy Powell, Robert Turturice and Michael Travis—were honored for their career achievements in costume design. (See below for a detailed list of all the evening’s winners).

Recently, California Apparel News Fashion Editor N. Jayne Seward and Contributing Editor Claudia Schou caught up with Danny Glicker, Catherine Leterrier and Monique Prudhomme to find out more about their work on this year’s nominated films. Here is a Q&A with the designers, whose work ranges across the categories of contemporary, period and fantasy film. Each of the designers were recognized by the Costume Designers Guild for their work this year. And Leterrier and Prudhomme are among this year’s Oscar nominees for Outstanding Costume Design.



DANNY GLICKER “Up in the Air”

Danny Glicker was nominated last year for an Academy Award for his costume-design work on “Milk.” This year, he was nominated in the “Excellence in Contemporary Film” category by the Costume Designers Guild for his work on “Up in the Air.” The film depicts the life of a business traveler portrayed by George Clooney. Glicker “got his chops” designing costumes in the New York indie movie scene and on Broadway before beginning his career in Hollywood.  His credits include “Thank You for Smoking,” “We Are Marshall” and “Transamerica.” Glicker is recognized for his meticulous attention to detail, which is necessary for the accurate portrayal of a character especially in contemporary filmmaking.

What was the inspiration behind the designs?