Holly Waddington wins Oscar and BAFTA for Best Costume Design
Mon 11 March 2024A huge congratulations to Trinity Laban alum Holly Waddington (MA Scenography – Dance) for winning this year’s Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design for Poor Things!
Holly Waddington was the costume designer on Yorgos Lanthimos’s 2023 film Poor Things, starring Emma Stone (who won the BAFTA Award and Academy Award for Best Actress), Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youseff, and Mark Ruffalo. She stated that the director “opened the whole thing up for my interpretation” – he did not want the style of a period drama nor science-fiction. Holly has previously expressed that she too “often found it frustrating when periods are recreated exactly as they were” and she is “more interested in the scope to play with ideas”. Poor Things tells the tale of young Bella Baxter who is brought back to life by scientist Dr Godwin Baxter. The captivating costumes trace the evolution of the protagonist and complement the film’s brilliant narrative.
Holly Waddington attended the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford and began her career working for Angels the Costumiers in London as a ladies’ period costume designer. Following her MA in Scenography at Trinity Laban, she was a finalist in the 2007 Linbury Prize for Theatre Design. Holly previously worked as a film costume designer for Lady Macbeth by William Oldroyd, Ginger and Rosa by Sally Potter, and Departure by Andrew Steggall. As an assistant costume designer, Holly has collaborated on War Horse and Lincoln by Steven Spielberg, Happy-Go-Lucky and Another Year by Mike Leigh, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. by Guy Ritchie. She has designed costumes, sets and installations for productions at The Gate Theatre, The Young Vic, The Almeida, The Royal Court, Scottish Dance Theatre, Sadler’s Wells, Handspring UK and Complicité.
The Barbican hosted an exhibition from December to January presenting the costumes designed by Holly Waddington in collaboration with director Yorgos Lanthimos, as worn in the film by Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe.
We are all immensely proud of Holly and pass on our congratulations!