You may not recognize Paco Delgado‘s name, but the two-time Oscar nominee has created costumes for films such as “The Danish Girl,” “Les Miserables,” “The Skin I Live In” and “Biutiful.” Now, his designs are on display in Ava Duvernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time” where the looks for the cosmically powerful Mrs. characters are showcases for his talent. And that means some of the most drag-licious costumes for stars Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling and none other than Oprah Winfrey.
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I actually wanted to ask the Canary Islands native about any drag inspirations, but to say he wasn’t in the best mood on our phoner was a slight understatement. He did reveal much of his process, however, and, of course, discuss working with the legendary Oprah.
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Gregory Ellwood: Hey, Paco, how are you?
Paco Delgado: Oh, hello. How are you?
I’m good. Thank you so much for taking the time.
No, that’s to you for being interested.
So, most obvious question first: How did you get involved in the project?
Well, I mean, the thing is, Ava called me. I was in Berlin because I was doing something for the film festival like looking at movies to give the award for costume. And then she called me there [and asked if] I was interested in getting a script, reading it and then having a couple of ideas to come back to her. And that was it. I read the script, I thought it was fantastic. S he told me the actresses and the actors that were involved with it. And I thought it was a really, really good thing to start.
Did she tell you whether she had a particular vision, or any ideas of the direction she wanted the looks for the Mrs. characters to go or was she looking for your thoughts first?
Yes, I mean, the thing is, she wanted me to create two worlds. One of the worlds has to be like the reality world where Meg and her family live and then this sort of fantastical world where the Mrs. and Red and all these other characters inhabit. She gave me feedback of images that she stowed away and dresses. Some of them were abstract ideas, some of them were like ideas of makeup or hair. [Then] I started looking for mood boards that were representing [or] sort of like a brainstorming of how I felt the characters have to be. And then we had a conversational backwards and forwards to grade everything, but then, yes, she had a great strong idea of things and how she wanted it to look.