BBC Costume Design Trainee Scheme

I have spent two very interesting days going through the portfolio submissions from this year's applicants for the BBC Costume Design Trainee scheme.

Costume Designer Linda Mattock originally set up the scheme which is now run by Alice Skidmore. Linda and Alice are regular assessors so I was really pleased when they asked me to join them this year.

We looked through roughly 100 portfolios and whittled them down to a group of ten who will be invited for interviews in July, competing for two positions.

I can't wait to meet the applicants who got through, their work is strong, all quite different from each other and each one, at this stage, showing great potential.

Annie Symons

Belated Congratulations to Annie Symons who won the Costume Design BAFTA at last week's Craft Awards for her brilliant work on BBC 2's drama Worried About The Boy.
I know Annie struggled with budget constraints so it's an even bigger 'Well Done' for managing to pull it off with so much wit and accuracy, I loved it.

Anna-Maria Garthwaite and James Leman

Top three photo's show Mora Thunder and Staley Rondeau alongside a design by James Leman.

Last week I went on a field trip with The Gentle Author and Stanley Rondeau to the VA to meet Curator of Designs, Moira Thunder. Stanley is a direct descendant of a Spitalfields weaver called John Rondeau, who was born in France in 1666.

We went to look at some of the original designs Anna-Maria Garthwaite had produced for John Rondeau to weave.

Seeing the original notes and dates on the paper brought home how very long ago this was and just how vibrant the colour must have been in its fresh newness but to accompany Stanley and to witness his emotional connection to his ancestor, whilst at the same time picking Moira's brains about the various people and their skills and responsibilities involved in producing a woven silk design for a client was, for me as a Costume Designer, the perfect framework for a museum visit.
Considering the human element and the world in which these people lived, made their stories come to life and I felt their characters lift off the pages which is, in the end, my job.

Headdresses

Thanks to The Gentle Author of Spitalfields Life for showing Stephanie Sian Smith's work.

Wear with either side to the front or back, reproduction Mend and Make Do, one of nine by M.Goldstein, Hackney Road.