Los Angeles Times: The costume wizard behind those ‘Wicked’ outfits has been down the Yellow Brick Road before

To work on"Wicked," costume designer Paul Tazewell moved to London for two years, hired 150 people at times and set up his department so similar teams worked together. "Like Sant's workshop,' he says. (Emil Ravelo/ The Times)

If Willy Wonka set off for Cirque du Soleil and passed through “Bridgerton,” he’d be ready for “Wicked.” But the movie musical’s costumes aren’t just a mashup of looks we’ve seen before; they’re an elegant reinvention of iconic “Wizard of Oz” references and a joyous summation of its designer’s career.

The wildly colorful and complex costumes of “Wicked” are the work of Paul Tazewell, whose designs for another beloved musical, “West Side Story,” earned him an Oscar nomination in 2022. He became the first Black male to earn that honor, and with “Wicked” he is favored to become the first to win it.

Tazewell, 60, brought all of his particularly relevant life experience to the job. He’s designed costumes for theater, dance, opera, film and television, earning recognition in each medium. He’s even designed “The Wiz” four times, starting in high school in Akron, Ohio.

“I made the costumes in the middle of our dining room on my mother’s Singer sewing machine,” he says. By 2016, he’d won an Emmy for “The Wiz! Live.”

Read full story here: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/awards/story/2025-02-11/wicked-costumes-paul-tazewell