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THE FALL costumes appreciation: 2/8 (costume design by Eiko Ishioka)

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Wim Wenders & Yohji Yamamoto (1989) Photography: Alice Springs

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Dress, c.1888

@FIT

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The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome Kenneth Anger USA, 1954

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Carl Weathers' iconic and glitzy Uncle Sam-themed entrance costume seen during the 'Living in America' scene from Rocky IV (1985). This costume was actually fairly complicated thanks to being required to light up onstage; according to Sly Stallone:

"I wanted to have Apollo Creed make his presence known when he goes to fight Drago in Las Vegas. It was actually the first time we used fiberoptics - so this Uncle Sam outfit would light up. And he came onscreen with such an explosion. It's one of my favorite, favorite moments. This is the only one in the world like it. It's been in my home for many, many years and it's just extraordinary - it really is!"

Costume design by Tom Bronson, with costume illustrator Haleen Holt.

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The delightfully gaudy costumes worn by James Brown and his entourage of dancers in Rocky IV (1985)'s infamous 'Living in America' sequence. Costumes designed by Tom Bronson, with costume illustrator Haleen Holt.

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Marc Chalmé (French, b. 1969)

Into the dream

Oil on canvas

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The haunting dream sequence of the seminal and obscure animation masterpiece, Wilcza wyprawa (2002)

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Balto II: Wolf Quest (2002, Phil Weinstein)

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Ichi the Killer, ‘殺し屋1’, 2001 dir. Takashi Miike

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Nowhere (1997) // dir. Gregg Araki

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Selected pieces by Christopher Hobbs (1941 - 2024) for the 2000 Gormenghast miniseries

Hobbs worked on almost every arty film made in the UK from the last century; Hobbs was production designer on several films by Derek Jarman and Ken Russell, as well as having worked on Velvet Goldmine and The Company of Wolves. He also designed the body horror/creature effect concepts for the scifi horror oddity Xtro!

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Razorback (1984, Russell Mulcahy)

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Near Dark (1987, Kathryn Bigelow)

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Dust Devil (1992, Richard Stanley)

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David Cronenberg's Scanners (1981) has a sequence taking place in a mentally ill (and telepathic) artist's exhibition and workshop, where he processes his demons in the form of his surreal and eerie sculptures.

These sculptures were by Tom Coulter, a Montreal artist whose work Cronenberg took a shine to as he felt it was in line with the themes of his own films. I'm assuming Coulter must have also did the more traditional artworks seen briefly here as well. Sadly I can't find examples of Coulter's work online as of now. Coulter would work on later horror films such as Videodrome and Parents (1989).

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David Cronenberg isn't really one for flashiness in sets and costumes in his films; if there was a scale of auteurs ranked by flamboyance, he would be at the bottom - Ken Russell and Federico Fellini would be at the top.

Videodrome (1983) is a slight exception, as after all it's about tacky television. The film's costume designer was Delphine White. Debbie Harry as Nicki Brand gets to wear two bold-red outfits (cos get it, it's a sexually stimulating colour); the hallucination torture-room dress has a big leather belt and is the one she wears in all the promotional photos. It looks really cheap mind, so it was probably bespoke made? The red suit with epaulettes that she wears in the talkshow scene was most certainly bought though.

Lynne Gorman as Masha gets to wear two really nice, off-the-rack coats; a long leopard print coat, and a multicoloured shorter version with black trim that's only seen better thanks to a deleted scene.

There's actually a fair bit of dressing up for the film's various shows-within-a-show; a random belly dancer (presumably wardrobe stock) during the scene where Masha warns Max Renn off hunting for the 'videodrome' torture show, and mock renaissance/dancer outfits for the Spectacula Optical trade show performance. No idea if the renaissance fits are bespoke made or were bought from fancy dress shops, but the women's leotards have been altered (with the same materials as the men dancer's bowties) so that they form a glasses shape on their breasts!