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Greening Hollywood: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and Mad Men

With this year’s Emmy’s just around the corner, the talented members of the Costume Guild are already feeling the spotlight. This past weekend FIDM hosted the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Costume Design and Supervision Peer Group as they honored the 61st Primetime Emmy Award nominees for outstanding costumes. Several of the collections on display are vintage-era designs and re-purposed style from our Grandmother’s day.

Nominees included Janie Bryant, Costume Designer, Mad Men; Jo Katsaras, Emmy nominated Costume Designer for The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency; as well as Kim Martinez and Jennifer Kamrath, Emmy nominated Costume Designer and Supervisor, respectively, for The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice.


Pictures courtesy Paige Donner

The fourth annual exhibition, “The Art of Outstanding Television Costume Design,” showcases the work of this year’s Emmy nominated costume designers and costume supervisors. Show is curated by Mary Rose, President of the Costume Designers Guild and also Television Academy Governor, Costume Design and Supervision. FIDM, host to the exhibit, is also home to this season’s Project Runway.

Evidence of this year’s synergy between costume design and Depression-era fashion trends is spotlit in the exhibit, particularly those pieces on display from vintage-looking Grey Gardens, Chanel and Mad Men. Janie Bryant, Costume Designer for Mad Men, acknowledges that her choices are often very eco-friendly but also admits that it is an afterthought for her. “I use all vintage pieces – woolens, silks, I recycle fur,” she said. “I am primarily designing for the show’s look but when I can make eco-friendly choices as well, all the better.”

Depression-era styles are popping up in fashion shows, on street-wear and in the collections of new designers such as Miss K.K. who are re-purposing using sourced quality vintage-era garments rather than exploiting new materials.

Costume Guild member Nancy Fisher who works primarily on commercial shoots commented that she would much rather reach for an eco-tee but knows that she can only dress her clients in things they want to wear. “If I’m working with Cameron Diaz, for example, then it’s no problem to get her to wear eco. In fact, she prefers it. If only all the talent I worked with were like-minded…!”

Written by Paige Donner

Paige Donner has written on Entertainment for magazines such as Variety and Daily Variety since the early 90's. She produced several segments of Earth Views, for KTVU-Oakland also in the 90s before environmental reporting went mainstream. She currently writes a column, Greening Hollywood, that can be found on the Huffington Post, here on GO Network as well as other outlets. Paige holds a degree in Political Science with minors in French and International Relations.

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