Building Character With Shirley Kurata

For GREATEST 09, the Oscar-nominated costume designer dives into her personal collection of Polaroids, revealing how she transforms actors into characters through IRL research.

WRITER: Johnny Le PHOTOGRAPHER: Shirley Kurata

Innovation manifests in different ways, morphing and responding to the platform it engages with. When it comes to costume design, Shirley Kurata’s imaginative thinking is pushing boundaries and redefining fashion’s role in storytelling. Unapologetically maximalist in her approach, she received an Oscar nomination for her otherworldly creations in 2022’s genre-defying Everything Everywhere All at Once. Working closely with the directors and actors, Kurata’s outré sartorial choices were hailed as visionary, deploying clothing as a tool for challenging and subverting Asian stereotypes. Stephanie Hsu, who played the character Joy in the film, captured the critical sentiment when she described Kurata as an “artistic genius.”

“This is one of the ‘punk’ sweaters I purchased in Chinatown for Michelle Yeoh for her role as Evelyn Wang in 'Everything Everywhere All at Once.' I bought two of them for the movie. One sold at auction for $15,000 and proceeds went to the Asian Mental Health Project, the Transgender Law Center and the Laundry Workers Center. The wood hanger is from my friend Dane Johnson.”

“I try not to hoard too much stuff but I am a sucker for cute vintage shoes, especially if they are from the Madonna Inn, like the ones I’m wearing. I’m also a sucker for Maud Frizon heels, shoes with Lucite heels and Miu Miu shoes.”

“For the ‘Goth Jobu’ [Stephanie Hsu] look in 'Everything Everywhere All at Once,' I put her in a Comme des Garçons top that was three-dimensional, so I needed an exaggerated choker that would peek through the ruffles. I ended up putting her in this extra-long spiked Bitchfist choker. This is my cat Mooney modeling it.”

“Styling this W Magazine shoot by Daniels with Jennifer Coolidge was so much fun. I dressed Daniel Scheinert in a lobster mask and claws.”

I’ve done fittings with people where they walk in as themselves, put on the clothes and turn into the character. You can see it happen before your eyes.
Shirley Kurata

“I’m a big fan of Jean-Luc Godard films and I was particularly inspired by the film 'La Chinoise,' where one of the characters wears sunglasses with flags from different countries painted on the lenses. I have a collection of vintage sunglasses, so I thought it’d be fun to paint flags on them for a shoot I did with my moped gang.”

“This is a Polaroid of me taken by my friend Lorraine years ago at a roller rink. I think it might be the Moonlight Rollerway. I currently have about five pairs of roller skates and, of course, I have to have my outfit match my skates. This diagonal format was how we would take our continuity photos because you can fit a full-length photo of someone better when it’s shot diagonally.”

“Designer Peter Jensen has a muse for every collection he does and for Spring 2016 I was his muse. This is a Shirley print from one of the dresses, with various Shirleys and a vintage styrofoam head I found at an antique store in Albuquerque.”

“This hoodie is from the Jeremy Scott x adidas FW12 collaboration that I put on Jobu for her K-pop look in 'Everything Everywhere All at Once.' It’s modeled by a vintage Googlies stuffed animal. His eyes spin when you squeeze his belly.”

“We love Snoopy and there are several Snoopy plushies and figurines displayed throughout the store; some that we have purchased and some given to us by customers. This KAWS Snoopy is wearing another classic Virgil Normal shirt with the message ‘Don’t be a dick’ on the sleeve.”

“Before digital cameras were a thing, wardrobe continuity photos on set were always taken with Polaroid cameras. Sometimes we would take candid shots with the actors or sets. Here’s one from one of the first TV shows I ever worked on as a set costumer, called 'Big Bad Beetleborgs,' which was kind of a 'Power Rangers' spinoff.”