Colleen Atwood

“On Planet of the Apes, I had a very knowledgeable team who knew good materials, but I had one main source person who worked online and on the street continually looking for the proper materials.”

“I always loved clothes, just not clothes that were appropriate to the place I grew up in.”

“I think a lot of young girls go through that period in their life of finding who they are, and at that point, looking good matters the most.”

“It's true that I'm not cozy. I'm more reserved.”

“I worked in fashion, but I worked more in the sales side of fashion than in design. I was an assistant buyer for a department store back in the '70s and the early years of Saint Laurent. And I used to have a lot of private clients that I bought for.”

“I think that sometimes people don't understand that a costume that has to be worn every day and doesn't change the whole movie becomes iconic. It's very important because it requires a different design process, since you have to make something that people aren't going to get tired of looking at.”

“I design for the movie and the character as well as the person wearing the costume. I show the ideas to the actor, then do fittings for shape and technical things such as movement in the costume. Once the costume in this form is on the actor, you have a sense of their connection with it. I then take it to the next level with the final fit.”

“Planet of the Apes was a gigantic challenge, making the clothes work so people could do stunts and action in the clothes. I really learned a lot about that in that movie.”

“I grew up in a small town in Washington State, so I wasn't really aware of costume design as a career growing up, but I loved clothes. I remember I saved all my money, and the first thing that I bought was a white blazer, which was to the horror to my parents. But I have always had a strange connection with clothing.”

“It's great fun that my grandkids get to see the costumes in 'Alice in Wonderland' or a doll with grandma's dress, but then they also let me know they're bummed I didn't do any of the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies.”

“It's often said that costume designers are a faceless group of people. But we can contribute to fashion in a way that might be new and different.”

“I grew up in the age of polyester. When I got to touch real silk, cotton and velvet, the feel of nonsynthetic fabrics blew me away. I know it's important how clothing looks, but it's equally important how it feels on your skin.”

“Costumes are the first impression that you have of the character before they open their mouth-it really does establish who they are.”

“My own style is pretty classic; I much prefer to design for others.”

“I am always looking for ideas, whether it is in art on the street or in my world travels. It comes to me randomly and unexpectedly.”

“I had to work out that it was something that could move, without having everybody in spray painted leotards.”

“The costumes had to serve the choreography.”

“The right costume determines the character, helps the actor feel who he is, and serves the story.”

“I'd say probably the most expensive costumes I've ever made were the costumes in 'The Planet of the Apes,' because of the research and development that went into them and the amount of layers.”

“I always have a moment when I know I'm designing the last costume that gets made for a movie, and it's always been floating up there, but it's kind of the last one. That's always probably the hardest one for me.”