Interviewing Costume Designer Paco Delgado from "A Wrinkle in Time"

Interviewing Costume Designer Paco Delgado from “A Wrinkle in Time”

When I was in college I majored in Theater Arts. I knew I would never be an actress, but the theater called my name. I loved all that went into putting on a show. I loved watching tryouts. I loved seeing who would be cast. I loved watching the dialogue come together. I loved watching the set designers work. And I LOVED seeing the costume designers work magic to bring the final elements together. I was always fascinated by costume design because the designers need to become as intimate with the characters they are creating for as the actual actors and actresses. They are the magical piece that make these characters come alive for the audience.

If you take one look at the A Wrinkle in Time trailer, you know that a lot of magic went into the costumes. If you have seen the movie already, you know first-hand what kind of magic had to go into each creation.

All of this can be attributed to Costume Designer Paco Delgado! He is a master at what he does and I was just in awe of his designs throughout A Wrinkle in Time!

We had the amazing opportunity to interview Paco while in LA for the press event and he was one of my fave to meet and interview! He was so giving and so thankful that we loved his costume design work. He was truly just a dream and so, so sweet!

It was interesting hearing him talk about the process of work on A Wrinkle in Time because this film is about, as Paco said, “celestial beings.” So it was really fascinating to hear his take on how everything had to come together.

“They don’t wake up in the morning. They don’t have any porridge in the morning. You don’t really know what they are doing because basically they don’t behave like human beings. Then after you read the script… you get some hints for something, you know. Oprah’s character was Mrs… Which. She was a warrior that was fighting the universe against the forces of evil. And she was originally, like a supernova that exploded and became all this energy.”

“Then Mindy, she is very playful in that you see the way she engages with the children, and the silly things that she says to the children… She has all the culture of the universe into herself.”

It was crazy to hear from Paco that some of the dresses took up to 8 weeks to create! 8 weeks! And the interesting piece was that he said that many of the dresses were being made simultaneously. So he would constantly need to be checking and making sure that everything was going as planned and on schedule. You could easily see his passion for his craft. We tried to ask him what was his favorite actresses to dress/design for and he smiled and said, “That’s one of the most difficult questions ever. Because it’s like when you have children which one do you like? Then, you know. They’re all my children, basically.”

Photo credit: Louise Manning Bishop / MomStart.com

Listening to Paco share how everything starts to come together with a true cast in place was fun to hear! It was really cool to see all the different layers of how he works come together. It’s not just about sketching, creating and done! It’s much, much more than that and it’s really something that I didn’t expect.

“I normally try to work with open ideas about [who is he working with] this man is a strong man and he’s very clever. And this lady, she is very powerful, and she knows how to deal with all the problems in life. I try to work that way. And then when you know the actor, everything is like an open book. I mean, you suddenly see the pictures, like… you see who she is, who he is. Or sometimes you have been lucky enough to work with them for very many times that you know already a lot of information about them.You know if they feel comfortable with flat shoes, or really happy to have tight jeans. You know all these already.”

It really is just very interesting to hear the back-story. I didn’t expect Paco to get so involved, but he really does. He becomes one with the characters and breathes them in. He doesn’t just want to know the physical side for the design, he wants emotion, too.

And… of course we need to ask him about working with the one and only OPRAH! He was adorable when he responded!

“I mean, it was very scary because you are gonna have a first meeting with somebody like Oprah Winfrey, well, you know, I mean… I don’t want to say… I don’t want to say exactly what I felt, but I mean, you know.”

We all started laughing because he was so honest!

“I mean, the thing is, I was, like, “Oh my god, what happen if she doesn’t like this?’ And then… The thing is, at the end of the day, you have to put your head in a mind-frame to think that, basically, she’s Oprah Winfrey for everyone, including me. But now that I’m walking into her office, and I’m going to talk to her, basically, she’s my colleague.”

I loved HEARING THIS!! And you could tell that they bonded.

It was just a pleasure interviewing him. He was so gracious with his time and his energy. He exuded happiness! And I loved how he ended our interview…

“This is a race to the future always. You have a deadline you have to produce these costumes. You have to make drawings. You have to put them in motion. You have to find a workshop to make them. You have to make a fitting. You have to put them in front of the camera to test them. And one day they have to be in the movie. And, you know. I mean, the thing is, you have to calm yourself and always think they are gonna hate it. That’s it. And then once I think they’re gonna hate it, I feel so relieved because I think the only thing that can happen is to get better. You know!”

Make sure you check out A Wrinkle in Time in theaters now!!