Wow! Beauty And The Beast Has an Indian Connection

Emma Watson recently wished her fans in India ‘Happy Holi’ before the release of her movie “Beauty and The Beast”. That was a promotional video for her film. Not many Indians actually know that this was not the only contact the film has with India.

The role she is playing in the movie is called as a modern Belle’s role. The costume is also designed accordingly. “She doesn’t wear ballet pumps, she wears boots,” says Jacqueline Durra the Oscar-winning costume designer in an interview to a tabloid. “She has her 18th-century pockets, but she has them on the outside of her costume so that you can see they’re like a tool belt. They’ve got useful things in them that she’ll need for doing the different things she does in the village. She tucks her skirt up into her waistband so you can see her bloomers, and she wears bloomers so that she cannot be trapped by the skirt.” All of these elements serve as reminders of Belle’s will for freedom.

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@beautyandthebeast is out today! I was an assistant designer to Jacqueline Durran on the job, which had a costume team of almost 100 people. As a team, we tried to source ethical, fair-trade and sustainable fabrics wherever possible. For Belle's "red cape look" in particular we decided to challenge ourselves to see how difficult it would be to create a costume that was head to toe fair-trade, organic and sustainable, but which didn’t compromise Jacqueline's design. We contacted Eco Age, who provided us with a set of criteria which we could adhere to. All of the production was done in our in-house workshops, and the whole costume team got involved in the challenge. This specific costume required 12 different fabrics to make her cape, jacket, blouse, bodice, skirts and bloomers, with trims and ties, and we ensured that each element was certified organic and fair-trade. Our dyeing team took on the challenge of using natural and low impact dyes, and printing with traditional wood blocks, which the set carpenters helped make in the construction department, from redundant bits of the set. Some of the fabrics and trims used were vintage, including the cape which was made from hand-woven Scottish Jacob’s wool, that was then over-dyed using madder. The fabric for the jacket was made using a hand-woven linen found on E-bay, which was actually a lady in manchester’s school project from the 1960’s. Her apron was hand painted by London based artist Oliver Kilby @oliverkilbyart who also painted some of Belle's other accessories. The rest of the fabrics were sourced from fairtrade co-operatives in India and Nepal. #whomademyclothes #whomademycostume #ethicalcostume #ootd #jacquelinedurran #fairtrade #behindthescenes #beautyandthebeast #artisan #organic #naturaldyes #vintage #disney #sustainable @beautyandthebeast #thecostumedirectory

A post shared by Sinéad O’Sullivan (@thecostumedirectory) on Mar 17, 2017 at 9:15am PDT

She further stated that “instead of a corset, Belle wears a flexible bodice that ties at the side. Nothing she wears is inhibiting. She can do whatever she would want to do in any of her costumes. She rides a horse. And most ironically, she dances with the Beast”.

The movie got released and is winning hearts all over the world and it is really praised for its animations, songs, beautiful sets and of course the costumes. The costumes of  ‘Beauty and the Beast are earning appreciations everywhere. The assistant costume designer Sinéad O’Sullivan just shared beautiful pictures on her Instagram account on what went behind bringing the character of Belle to life.

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A few pictures of the many hands that made the @beautyandthebeast costumes happen. The team included pattern cutters, costume makers, textile artists, dyers, jewellery makers, fabric buyers, embroiderers, milliners, costume fitters, "sparklers", on set standbys, as well as the design team. Photos taken by Nicola Belton. Costumes designed by Jacqueline Durran #whomademyclothes #beautyandthebeast #jacquelinedurran #costume #disney #costumedesign #film

A post shared by Sinéad O’Sullivan (@thecostumedirectory) on Mar 17, 2017 at 9:53am PDT

On Instagram, she has explained how to make French floral design for Belle’s costumes and revealed of taking the help of some commendable artisans of Bhuj, Gujarat. She posted the story as ‘Who made my clothes’ and shared pictures of two artisan brothers Kasam and Juma, who were behind the beautiful Aari work, that went behind Belle’s costume.

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Belle's bodice from @Beautyandthebeast was beautifully hand embroidered by artisan brothers Kasam and Juma in Bhuj, Western India. They used a technique called "Aari work" which is a very fine chain stitch traditional to the Kutch area of Gujarat. This style lent itself very nicely to this eighteenth century French floral design. Costume designed by Jacqueline Durran, photo credit: Simon Marks @dyptsimonmarks #beautyandthebeast #costume #whomademyclothes #disney #artisan #bhuj #thecostumedirectory

A post shared by Sinéad O’Sullivan (@thecostumedirectory) on Mar 17, 2017 at 9:44am PDT