From Edward’s Scissor Hands to Ariel’s Mermaid Tail: Colleen Atwood Breaks Down Her Best Costume Designs

From a jumping Chicago in the Jazz Age to the rabbit hole of Tim Burton’s gothic fantasias, Oscar-winning Colleen Atwood ’s imprint on the world of costume design looms large. For her instalment of Vogue’s Life in Looks , she starts from 1990’s Edward Scissorhands .

“It was a visceral process,” she recalls of costuming Burton’s movie. “[Edward] was born from Orchard Street, Canal Street...back in the ’80s when there were all these boxes of leathers and finds that these guys sold.” Atwood would visit street sellers and pick up strips of textured, mis-matched leather to create what would become one of cinema’s most recognizable costumes. There’s only two authentic Edward Scissorhands costumes around, because they wouldn’t make multiples then. Seeing Depp slip on those scissored hand