The Art of the Costume Designer: Spotlight on James Acheson

The Academy celebrated the work of three-time Oscar-winning costume designer James Acheson with an evening tribute to his remarkable career. Acheson engaged in a far-ranging discussion with Hollywood Costume curator Deborah Nadoolman Landis about his body of work. A selection of film clips illustrated both his artistic influences as well as highlights from his nearly four decades as a designer.  There was also a book-signing of Hollywood Costume following the event with Deborah Nadoolman Landis.

Acheson was a costume designer for television’s Doctor Who before moving into features to collaborate with director Terry Gilliam and other members of the Monty Python troupe for the films Time Bandits, Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life and Brazil. He won his first Academy Award for his breathtaking designs for The Last Emperor and repeated that feat the following year with Dangerous Liaisons, earning a third Oscar in 1995 for Restoration. Acheson reunited with The Last Emperor’s director, Bernardo Bertolucci, for 1993’s Little Buddha, serving as both costume designer and production designer, and his other films include director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, which helped to inaugurate the current boom in superhero films.

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