The Italian director on how costumes are integral to a character, and how much they influence wider culture – just look at Saturday Night Fever ...
• Read more from the spring/summer 2019 edition of The Fashion, our biannual
fashion supplement
I think the connection between fashion and film belongs to all directors in the world. Your job is to build a story and character, and every element getting to that point is important. You work with your partners to do that – from actors to makeup artists and costume designers. People connect through image, and clothes are a way to find elements the audience can identify with and decipher. It’s great to see when it works well.
I have worked with the same costume designer over my last three films: Giulia Piersanti. She is someone who inspires me very deeply with her capacity to show how wardrobe can be used as a way to portray a character. I work with her on the textures of the scene and what we want to achieve. She then goes and does research, she makes clothes or sources pieces that might be vintage. Call Me By Your Name, for example, was set in the 80s. It is too early to say the era for the sequel – but they will be grown up.