The costume wizard behind those 'Wicked' outfits has been down the Yellow Brick Road before

If Willy Wonka acceptable disconnected for Cirque du Soleil and passed done “Bridgerton,” he’d beryllium acceptable for “Wicked.” But the movie musical’s costumes aren’t conscionable a mashup of looks we’ve seen before; they’re an elegant reinvention of iconic “Wizard of Oz” references and a joyous summation of its designer’s career.

The wildly colorful and analyzable costumes of “Wicked” are the enactment of Paul Tazewell, whose designs for another beloved musical, “West Side Story,” earned him an Oscar information successful 2022. He became the archetypal Black antheral to gain that honor, and with “Wicked” helium is favored to go the archetypal to triumph it.

Tazewell, 60, brought each of his peculiarly applicable beingness acquisition to the job. He’s designed costumes for theater, dance, opera, movie and television, earning designation successful each medium. He’s adjacent designed “The Wiz” 4 times, starting successful precocious schoolhouse successful Akron, Ohio.

“I made the costumes successful the mediate of our eating country connected my mother’s Singer sewing machine,” helium says. By 2016, he’d won an Emmy for “The Wiz! Live.”

“Wicked,” however, brought the decorator originative challenges that his teenage aforesaid ne'er could person imagined.

Tazewell had to find ways to marque the pb characters visually successful speech with each other, though Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is dark, earthy and green, portion Galinda (Ariana Grande) is light, bubbly and pink.

(Universal Pictures)

Tazewell had to synthesize the demands of the movie script, the L. Frank Baum book, the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz,” the Broadway musicals “Wicked” and “The Wiz” — and mesh with manager Jon M. Chu’s vision. He besides needed to marque the pb characters visually successful speech with each other, though Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) is dark, earthy and green, portion Galinda (Ariana Grande) is light, bubbly and pink.

The occupation required that helium determination to London for 2 years opening successful 2022. While there, helium utilized artisans who embroidered costumes, made hats oregon developed textiles for “Bridgerton,” “The Crown,” “Queen Charlotte” and the London accumulation of “Hamilton,” which successful 2016 netted Tazewell a Tony Award.

A royal overgarment for Prince Fiyero.

(Emil Ravelo/For The Times)

To negociate the monumental “Wicked” task, helium divided to conquer. Tazewell staffed the costume section of sometimes 150 radical to absorption connected characters oregon regions, specified arsenic Emerald City oregon Shiz University.

“It was similar Santa’s workshop, literally,” says Tazewell, who was successful Los Angeles for a caller Costume Designers Guild presumption and treatment of his work. “We had a agelong array wherever we would acceptable things up. I’d look astatine immoderate of the upcoming questions oregon upcoming issues, oregon look astatine fabrics.” Some days, helium says, it looked similar an assembly line. Workrooms were mapped by color.

Even garments of each achromatic were intricately detailed.

(Emil Ravelo/For The Times)

“You spell done the doorway of the Elphaba room, and it’s fundamentally each achromatic fabrics and textures. And past you bust done to the close to this different room, and it’s this detonation of pinkish and sparkles and lavender and everything that’s sheer and floating and afloat of butterflies that we’d laser-cut [for Galinda],” helium says.

Throughout, Tazewell cleverly built successful references to iconic elements. The striped socks of the Wicked Witch of the East amusement up arsenic wavy versions successful Shiz University uniforms. Jeff Goldblum’s Wizard of Oz mirrors the frock-coat silhouette from the archetypal film. Swirls amusement up connected robes and shoes, a motion to tornadoes, portion Galinda’s circular cutouts and effervescent fabrics callback however her 1939 predecessor, Glinda, arrived successful Munchkinland successful a pinkish bubble.

Tazewell’s modern contributions added intricate covering operation that injected intrigue and movement. Fabrics are variously folded similar origami, appliqued, quilted, embroidered, beaded, gathered, pleated, printed, felted, dyed, etched, lasered and layered. Many techniques travel unneurotic successful the iconic pointy achromatic chapeau for the aboriginal Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba’s is made of crooked tiers of micro pleats that stitchery nether the brim to lucifer mushroom gills. It besides collapses into itself, similar a camping cupful that squishes flat.

That constituent of translation is becoming a Tazewell signature.

Fabrics for Galinda’s costumes were “pink and sparkles and lavender and everything that’s sheer and floating and afloat of butterflies that we’d laser-cut,” Tazewell says.

(Emil Ravelo/For The Times)

“I’ve ever been fascinated with Japanese fans, the sculptural prime and the opening and closing of them, oregon of umbrellas, which is simply a akin technique. I was besides obsessed with pop-up books,” helium says. “There is simply a magical prime astir going from 1 happening that is hidden to opening it up into a antithetic shape. I’ve carried that into my enactment arsenic I’ve matured arsenic a designer.”

You tin spot it successful enactment connected the agelong gowns Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth deterioration successful the movie to sing astir the Grimmerie, a publication of spells. With movement, their vertical skirt layers waft open, similar the turning pages of a book. The decorator likes to fold and pleat cloth to springiness it a benignant of kinetic vigor that adds bounce to clothing: It’s determination successful the pleated overlays connected Shiz pupil uniforms that swirl erstwhile they dance.

Some of the references are inspired by manner designers, specified arsenic Issey Miyake’s pleats, Vivienne Westwood’s and Christian Dior’s fitted jackets and Alexander McQueen’s exaggerated shoulders. The techniques get from couture craftsmanship and Hollywood magic. Some gowns were painstakingly embroidered by a solo creator utilizing antique machines from the 1800s. One of Elphaba’s dresses was built from a puzzle of micro-pleated cloth swirled and invisibly hand-stitched onto dozens of signifier pieces. Galinda’s pinkish accomplishment gown utilized 20,000 beads that took artisans 225 hours to sew onto the bodice, portion the skirt was assembled from spiraled cones of embellished, sheer pinkish cloth that were attached successful tiers.

And there’s a 2nd movie coming successful November, which was filmed successful conjunction with the first, adding yet different level of complexity to the plan task.

Costume decorator Paul Tazewell likes to fold and pleat cloth to springiness it a benignant of kinetic vigor that adds bounce to clothing: It’s determination successful the pleated overlays connected Shiz pupil uniforms that swirl erstwhile they dance.

(Universal Pictures)

“It was nonstop,” Tazewell says. “But I was besides successful that joyful spot wherever I’m successful that originative spot that has ever been wherever I’m truly myself.” That spot, it seems, is wherever helium transforms — into the Wonderful Costume Wizard of Oz.