Wednesday Addams turned on the screen. In another season, we will be faced with dangerous benefits, as well as effective images of heroes – from gothic glamor to unsettling historical messages. How designer Colleen Atwood worked on the world of “Venzday”, read below.
Advertising.
If you've seen Tim Burton's projects, you're probably familiar with Colleen Atwood's work. For many years, Oscar winner and costume designer Colleen Atwood has been Burton's constant creative partner on many of his projects – “Alice in Wonderland”, “Edward Knifehands”, “Sweet Todd” and so on. Also, when the development of the series “Venzday” began, Atwood herself, without a doubt, was the ideal candidate for the role of costume designer.
After an extremely successful first season, which has finally become the most popular English show on Netflix, “Vendens” is turning around. Another season, another half of which came out on the 3rd of Wednesday, again requesting peepers from the world of Addams and motorized investigations. The new part is locked at the Venzday branch in the Nevermore Academy and reveals the hidden vaults of powerful psychic abilities and classmates. The image of Wednesday has become part of the collective crowd and has become an eternal attribute of Halloween – black cloth, white cloth, hanging braids, and so on, as costume designers try to add freshness, not wasting mitta's knowledge?
For Atwood, expanding her signature monochrome palette was a creative outlet. “I love black and white,” she tells American Vogue. “In fact, monochrome lies in the same tones and textures – from which you can get no less variety than from a multi-color palette.”
When has the artist worked more with the texture of fabrics? The visible light, encased in darkness, has a texture similar to my Nevermore motorism. However, this is also not a very practical meta. “We used a lot more glittery textures, otherwise you won’t bother anyone at night. The glitter knocks out a little bit of light, which helps brighten it,” explains Atwood. She also used an old Hollywood trick: “she painted on the edges of the black fabric – with a tiny white line – to separate the details on the screen.”
Another season also expands on the nuances of the interactions between Venzday and her roommate Enid Sinclair, a fiery inverted girl who contrasts perfectly with Venzday's gothic stoicism. Their friendship is at the heart of the season, and Atwood's costume choices highlight their bond. “The world of Enid is bright, lively and different textures, their costumes contrast with the light of Venezda, – even Atwood. – Their wardrobes reveal the history of lengths, which, in addition, one another, and this friendship has celebrated greatness poured into design.”
The creative collaboration between Atwood and Jenna Ortega, who plays Wednesday, was even more active. Thus, the costumes contribute little to the unique identity of the Venzdays. “Jenna really wanted Wenday’s wardrobe to continue her story,” says Atwood. “It was not just about losing the true cult image, but also allowing him to grow from her at the same time – to demonstrate her strength, “This is the difficulty and this is the joy.” Ortega added a special nuance to the costumes of Venezia, combining traditional elements with modern options that would be traditional and suitable for everyday wear. The result is a wardrobe that represents the destruction of the Addams family, which allows Wednesday to demonstrate its independent strength.
Another bright moment of the season is the appearance of pop star Lady Gaga in the role of the mythical Nevermore Academy professor Rosalyn Rothwood. I first came up with this idea, but after Ortega’s rendition of Gaga’s song Bloody Mary went viral on TikTok, everything changed. Never before, Gaga re-released the track as a single, and this made a whole new generation familiar with her old hits, which led to the sporadic appearance of songs in the series. With her avant-garde style, Gaga gave Atwood the ability to infuse goth with a wild, theatrical charm. “Working with Gaga was a real pleasure,” says Atwood. “She gave me the freedom to experiment and expand my costumes beyond what I had previously done in this world.”
This sweetness balanced out the motorized movement of Wednesday's wardrobe, creating a dynamic interaction between the characters. Gaga's dramatic costumes, rich in texture, became moments of brilliance that suggested to onlookers that Nevermore was as luscious as it was dark.
The artist’s inspiration was Victorian and Edwardian Gothic fashion, old black-and-white films of the Jewish people and symbolism, embedded in a plaintive ode. These references themselves shaped the world, which now looks hourly and follows the classics of horrors with a daily plot. “The Addams Family has always been about dark elegance,” after all. “My goal was to keep this spirit alive, and then add something new that would reach the immediate audience.”
It is no secret that historical fashion has strongly influenced the visual image of Wednesday. “It’s fitting, like corsets, that the high-spirited commerce comes at the entrance of a dungeon. This fits perfectly with the tone of the series.”
On the subject that viewers may bring from another season, Atwood said: “I want the costumes to stink not just as clothes, but as witnesses. The leather element carries a part of the character’s path – his secrets, his strength, his fears.”
