The woman behind the costumes in the best picture winner, of which there were more than 100, talks about her preparations for the film and why its recognition is “long overdue” and a win for the Asian community
As a teenager, Shirley Kurata worked in the Aratani Theatre in the Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles, US. Today, the venue will host an Oscars watch party for Everything Everywhere All at Once, in which Kurata worked as costume designer.
Kurata was nominated for her first Academy Award for best costume design for the mind-bending sci-fi fantasy, for which she dressed Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Stephanie Hsu and Jamie Lee Curtis. (The award went to Ruth Carter for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.)
“It feels like coming full circle,” Kurata told AFP ahead of the Oscars gala. “I’m so honoured. I’m in the company of just very, very amazing and talented costume designers.”
Kurata was competing against three past winners—Catherine Martin (Elvis), Carter and Jenny Beavan (Mrs Harris Goes to Paris), as well as four-time nominee Mary Zophres (Babylon).
Read more: 5 things about 2023 Oscar winner and ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ actor Ke Huy Quan
Dressed in a vintage floral jacket and skirt, a turtleneck (her wardrobe staple, she says) and neon green jelly shoes with purple soles, Kurata rocks a retro style, complemented by distinctive round glasses.
On her pastel blue fingernails? The zany googly eyes seen throughout the film.
Everything Everywhere All at Once, directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, charged into Sunday’s ceremony and won seven of the 11 categories it was nominated for, including for best picture.
The movie tells the story of a Chinese American couple that runs a laundromat, is in trouble with the tax authorities and struggles to relate to their depressed daughter.