Durinda Wood Interview

The first part of an interview conducted with costume designer Durinda Wood, a wonderful and deeply underrated designer who helped realize many iconic looks for the beloved scifi eries Star Trek: The Next Generation including, of course, the fearsome Borg that would become an iconic design. Wood also contributed some deeply striking designs to the cult classic Battle Beyond the Stars, and (as of now) lost oddity The Journey Inside.

All the costume sketches, as well as most of the photos, in this interview were kindly provided to me by Durinda Wood herself, and again I would like to thank her for her kindness and willingness to do this interview!

1. What was it that got you interested in costume design?

I seem to have come out of the womb interested in clothes, fashion and costumes. At age four my mother was always frustrated because I HAD to pick out my own clothes. And they mostly had to be dresses. My childhood was a kaleidoscope of dress up on myself, friends and all my dolls from Barbie to troll dolls.

I’m kind of a one trick pony. Clothes and how to put them together to make a style or period representation has always fascinated me more than anything other than history. That fascination brought me to doing what I loved for a career.

2. Who would you say were your favorite costume designers & fashion designers? And what was your preferred era of historical fashion?

I’ve had an extraordinary amount of favorite costume and fashion designers through the years. I was lucky enough to have known the wonderful and Oscar-decorated Dorothy Jeakins and she was a great mentor to me. We had a very similar New England sensibility (although she was from CA). I absolutely loved her simple, elegant and subtle work. I remember her saying “I can put my world down to two words : Make Beauty. it’s my cue and my private passion”.

And on the other side of the spectrum, as a young girl, I was incredibly mesmerized by Italian costume designs like Danilo Donati (who worked with the great filmmaker Federico Fellini) and Piero Tosi. After seeing Fellini Satyricon, there was no question I wanted to be a costume designer. Present day favorites are many but top of the list are Sandy Powell and Colleen Atwood.

As far as fashion, I appreciate them all and have used them all for inspiration. Through the years I have loved Paul Poiret, Fortuney, Elsa Schiaparelli, Christian Dior, Vivian Westwood, Romeo Gigi and Kenzo. In my youth I was inspired by the early 20th century costume/fashion hybrids Leon Bakst and Erte.

3. How did you break into a costume design career?

After graduating from California Institute of the Arts, I started getting hired to design Little Theater in Los Angeles. Also, my film classmates from CalArts started making their own little films. Gradually I was hired for better and bigger projects. I was very ambitious, worked incredibly hard and people would recommend me for future projects. So on and so on.

4. In 1980, you did the costumes for the cult classic space opera Battle Beyond the Stars - the costumes for it are fairly impressive for a low-budget film! What is it like to do a futuristic effort so early in your career.

It was my second film ever. I was in my 20s and I had no fear because I didn’t know any better.

I went in for an interview at New World Pictures with Roger Corman. They asked me to go home and design the whole film over the weekend and if they liked what they saw, I would be hired. I’m sure they said that to a few others. It was a weekend without much sleep. It was before the Internet. I went to the library and magazine shops to gather as much research as possible for the characters. For instance reptile books for the Cayman character etc, etc.

They liked what they saw on Monday and I was hired. I think we had about three weeks to assemble all the costumes before shooting. Everything had to be designed and manufactured so quickly that I had to rely on my instincts. I couldn’t second guess and apparently my instincts were good. I relied heavily on all my theater manufacturing contacts I had developed in the previous years. Nothing is outlandish in theater so science-fiction was no problem. We all loved the creativity a futuristic film demands.

5. Out of the costumes for Battle Beyond the Stars, some of the most striking are those worn by Sybil Danning as the warrior Saint-Exmin, in particular the pink and latex outfit that feels so risque! What was the inspiration behind this design, and her other 'Valkyrie'-looking costume.

I remember not wanting to design a clichéd Valkyrie. And I wanted to build a costume that was futuristic enough that the obvious 20th century “sexy” tropes were not used. When I designed it, the actress had not been cast. Sybil Danning turned out to be rather more well endowed than I had imagined. It was very last minute and we tried to make the design work on her. When Roger Corman saw it, he didn’t think it was sexy enough so that’s why the second costume was added.

6. The uniforms of the evil 'Malmori' also are fairly striking - in particular the soldiers' helmets with their criss-crossing tubing. What was the inspiration behind them?

The design of the Malmori came from my love of Japanese costume. And my love of Akira Kurosawa and the samurai in his films. We didn’t have time to build the helmets so I looked everywhere for something that was already made.

I found those helmets in an army navy store on Sunset Blvd. They were black leather Spanish World War II helmets. In order to make them a little bigger and add better proportion with the bodies and to give it more of a futuristic look we added the tubing. And the thought was that the tubing was supplying the helmets and warriors with some kind of resourse to make them stronger. I never liked adding anything for purely visual reasons. I always liked having the visuals make sense in context.

7. Another interesting design is the one worn by the lizardman Cayman, played by Morgan Woodward. The outfit feels a tad imposing, especially with all the straps - again, what was the inspiration for his design?

As I remember (it was 42 years ago), the thoughts behind the Cayman costume were that he was a lizard creature and lived in wet environments, in and out of water. Because he was supposed to be big, powerful and a bit scary, I wanted his costume to be made mostly out of metal. I wanted the metal to be very ugly and rusty to show the effects of the wet environment. In those days they just started using plastic screening for window screens. I knew I could make a costume out of that (and look like metal screening) and I also LOVED going to the hardware stores and picking out nuts, bolts and all kinds of hardware for costumes. The idea for this one being that the closures were all closures you would put on a house or machinery instead of a piece of clothing. Also I think I had a iridescent fabric underneath the screen to show what would’ve been lizard skin.

I remember the theater costume maker/painter who worked on that costume had a wonderful time painting all the rust all over it. A not so funny coincidence was that the studios , where we shot the film, flooded for a couple weeks and it was almost as if we were in the Cayman habitat. And another interesting detail from that film was that Jim Cameron (of Titanic fame) had become the production designer, half way through.

8. Between Battle Beyond the Stars and Star Trek, you took a good deal of costume design roles, one of the most notable being the Rodney Dangerfield vehicle Back to School - what is designing for comedy films like compared to more 'serious' contemporary productions?

Early in my career I decided I did not want to work on violent movies. I didn’t want to be a part of creating violence on screen and putting it out into the world. I turned down many science fiction projects after Battle Beyond the Stars because of that. But I ended up being interested in Star Trek because of the peaceful and inclusive messages the episodes usually had.

If I wasn’t going to design big tent pole violent movies, that mostly left me with comedy and period drama. I ended up loving comedies because they can be incredibly creative. Wacky and out of the norm clothing can make for great comedy. I preferred being a part of making a audience laugh rather than fearful. I especially loved working with the actors and all my collaborators on the Chris Guest films. Possibly the most fun for me was being a comedic collaborator with the costumes. You had to be on your toes, and have your comedic creative juices flowing at all times.

9. I see that you also worked on some historical productions in that time too, such as Almost Heroes (set in early colonial America) and Cabinet of Spells - what is it like working in historical productions?

Yes, Almost Heroes was my first film working with Christopher Guest and his ensemble. It was a comedy spoof on the Lewis and Clark expedition. There were many historical periods in it like conquistadors from the 1500s, a fantasy Indian tribe and of course western America in early 1800s.

I love historical projects because I love doing the research. I’ve always loved history and I really like to get it right. If you do the hard work of as much research as possible then you have a basic book knowledge that you can refer to. It’s a little bit more by the book and a little less creative than something like science fiction but clearly creative and challenging in different ways.

10. According to your site, you did a lot of theatre work - how different is theatre to the film and television world?

There’s a shift of focus in viewing the costumes between theater and film.

In theater, you can see the whole costume and even the shoes can be at eye level. In film, the focus is mostly from the waist up with medium shots and close-ups. There are long shots of course but not most of the time. Also the camera chooses what you see. In theater you see everyone who’s on stage no matter what. So in film you’re concerned mostly with the costume from the waist up and in theater you are concerned with the whole costume and how they all coordinate with each other.

Also, In my career, I felt I had a lot more respect in theater as a Costume Designer because it is considered an esteemed part of the creative process. In television and film, not as much.

11. In 1988, you replaced William Ware Theiss as costume designer for Star Trek: The Next Generation's second season - what opinion did you have on Theiss' designs, and did it feel that you were being restricted in terms of having to follow the example he set? Troi's jumpsuit and the Romulan uniforms especially feel indebted to Theiss' designs.

When I signed onto designing Star Trek in its second season, there was a lot I wanted to redesign. Many things they allowed me to redesign and others they didn't because of cost issues. I wanted to redesign the Starfleet uniforms but that would’ve cost too much to manufacture all new jumpsuits.

Costume sketches by Durinda Wood for Wesley Crusher's new jumpsuit and the redesigned Starfleet officer uniform

Wil Wheaton in the new jumpsuit designed for his character

I redesigned the Romulan uniforms to make them look more substantial however I did use the same fabric Mr Theiss used. There were many new characters that were my designs so that was satisfying. Characters like Guinan, the Borg, and most of the weekly aliens.

(Costume sketches by Durinda Wood for alien diplomat Riva (Howie Seago) and a 'Pakled' alien)

(Assoted photos given to me by Durinda Wood of her work on The Next Generation)

I tweaked the neckline and changed the fabric and color on Troy‘s jumpsuits to make it more flattering to her. And I also was glad to redesign Worf‘s Klingon baldric sash.

12. You also contributed the design of the waiters uniforms in the 'Ten Forward' bar, which remained a mainstay for the rest of the series - what was the inspiration for their design and colour scheme? I do like that green houndstooth pattern.

On Star Trek, I resourced most of my inspiration from two sources; historical ethnic costumes and Paris runway fashion. The Ten Forward waiter costumes were inspired by a male runway design.

(Two photos, sent to me by Durinda Wood, of Paris runway outfits she homaged in her TNG designs - the first as inspiration for K'Ehleyr's red suit, the latter as inspiration for the Ferengi uniform collars)

In designing Star Trek every week, I usually had only one morning to find all the fabric I needed for that week’s episode. I had to instinctually go with what I found in so little time. The pattern and color for the waiters turned out to be close enough to what I had designed on paper.

13. Another design that remained a mainstay were the uniforms of the mischievous Ferengi - the iridescent lining on their uniforms was such a great touch. What was the inspiration for this uniform, which was definitely an upgrade over Theiss' designs for them?

As I remember, in redesigning the Ferengi in 1988, they were supposed to be just bad and greedy, less so mischievous. I think they evolved to be a little more benign and mischievous later. I wanted there to be a big metal focal point on the costume, the metal being expensive to obtain and showing their materialistic greed. I think Bob Blackmen (the series designer after me) livened up the color later to show their mischievousness and even comedy.

14. Some of the highlights for me in terms of costume design have to be the dresses worn by Majel Barrett in her turn as Lwaxana Troi, as well as the jumpsuits worn by Suzie Plakson as K'Ehleyr - is it more fun to design colourful dresses and alien jumpsuits than for uniforms?

It was an absolute delight to design for Lwaxana Troi and K’ehleyr. I mostly used details from Paris fashion for both, and for Lwaxana some 1950s fashion influence as well. Of course I wanted Ms Troi to be very striking and feminine, and K’ehleyr to be striking and strong in the design. Hence metal and leather for strength.

I loved working with both women as they were both so game in their fittings. Majel was a wonderfully charming and generous person. Of course it was worrisome to design for the wife of Gene Roddenberry but she put us all at perfect ease.

15. Another regularly snappy dresser was Whoopi Goldberg in her turn as Guinan, always in these colourful gowns and wide hats that made her look both alien and serene - what were the inspirations behind her costume?

For the Guinan costumes, I had three similar but different approaches. All of them historical ethnic Asian with a futuristic bent. I remember Gene Roddenberry had a lot of influence in the choice that was ultimately made.

I had been in San Francisco and saw in a shop there some hats that were made from big round wire circles and spandex. That’s what gave me the idea for the hat design. Whoopi had been so well known for her dreads so I needed to transform her to make her look like no one had seen her before, to see her in a new light and other worldly. And with slight bit of androgyny too, to give Guinan a bit of mystery.

16. Of course we have to get to the big one: the Borg, which undoubtedly became a science-fiction icon. How much did you look at the production sketch artwork before contributing your own, final design? I also see an influence of H. R. Giger's artwork on the Borg as well, was that intentional?

Gosh, I’m trying to remember back about the beginnings of conceiving the Borg. We were told that they were the new bad guys of the universe. The producers were going to give us an extra week to put it together. So we had two weeks to design and produce them and all that with shooting and wrapping another episode.

Producer Rick Berman told me that the scary thing about the Borg was that they were a communal powerful force. The emphasis was on the group not individuals, and you couldn’t quite put your finger on who they were. You couldn’t quite make out if they were male or female etc. etc. So I wanted all the same murky color and all the same indistinguishable parts.

I kept thinking of dark and murky insect humans which brought me to H. R. Giger as inspiration. We put murky organics and mechanics together as we were told that as their organic parts wore out, they replaced them with mechanical parts. I designed them very fast and the designs were approved. The problem was not in the conception but in producing the design. We went around to many plastic shops to get mechanical looking parts built to overlay on the costumes. With not enough time, we had to settle for mechanical parts that were already in existence and augmenting with tubing like I had done in Battle Beyond the Stars. The thought was that each Borg’s organic parts failed at different times so the mechanical parts were all in diffrent places.

There was no time to build all the suits individually so I developed a kind of spandex that worked with Velcro and all the parts were put on with Velcro. At the time that was the best and fastest way to produce the costumes for the episode but trying to put it all back together again was difficult for future episodes. Later, I think they were made into one suits which made it easier for the actors to put on and costumers to keep track of.

I remember, I wanted the make-up to be a deadly lightish gray on their faces. I was over ridden and the faces were much whiter than I wanted. In a collaborative artistic effort you don’t always get your way every time. All hands were on deck for the Borg and I’m so thankful that they were successfully conceived and produced in so little time and that they have withstood the test of time.

17. When you left The Next Generation, you then left it off to Robert Blackman, who I believe was a colleague of yours? How much would you say you shared design sensibilities, especially as a lot of your designs 'DNA', so to speak, is still preserved in his designs for the rest of the series? (The Ferengi uniform buckle especially became a mainstay)

In 1989, the television screen was very small compared to today. I felt that we were doing all this amazing costume work for Star Trek and you could only see part of it on screen. I was exhausted from the relentless work of episodic television. I wanted to get back to feature films. I was very sorry to leave such an incredible crew and group of actors because it was truly a family. And the producers were always very kind to me which I appreciate to this day.

I was asked about the short list of designers they had chosen to replace me. I had known Bob Blackman from working with him in summer theater. I had always known that my own theater background was essential for my work on Star Trek. It informed my ability to roll with the punches and to be able to be as creative as I possibly could with less time and less money. Besides Bob being one of the loveliest humans I’ve ever met, his long theater background was perfect for Star Trek which is what I told the producers. And he and I had both attended Yale Drama School in Design so you might perceive that mutual influence.

18. Okay, one more question about Star Trek's costumes - were the red surgical robes inspired at all by David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers?

You guessed it! I had wanted the surgical theater to look different in the future and I had seen in my research about the look in the film Dead Ringers, so that’s what we did.

19. In 1994, you were then costume designer for The Journey Inside which as of now, sadly seems to be a lost film. However, what is especially striking is the insectoid jumpsuits worn by the strange alien invaders in the film - what was the inspiration behind their design?

The Journey Inside was meant to be a short IMAX film. I’m very sad that it seems to have gotten lost because those are some of my favorite costumes I ever designed. I developed a very textured spandex fabric that almost looked reptilian when painted. Design-wise, I started with the fabric with those costumes. I had more time to develop these characters than I did on Star Trek so I felt they were better produced. The actors had a great time moving in them and the visuals were striking, I felt. Thanks so much for appreciating them.

20. Again, after The Journey Inside, you didn't ever return to the world of science-fiction or fantasy - did you ever get calls to do futuristic gigs, and did you ever consider returning, or was the costume design world becoming too reliant on 'concept art' to feel actually creative in?

As I mentioned before, the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy became more and more violent, I thought. More and more CGI and special effects with very long and grandiose action scenes. Conscience wise, I wasn’t able to work on such violent films so I turned them down.

21. You did do a good deal of comedy and drama films after 'Journey Inside', as well as TV pilots - is working on contemporary really as simple as just going out and buying everything, and at the least is it less work than period or futuristic?

There’s very little respect in designing contemporary film, so you aren’t given the resources and the time and money that a “designed” movie gets. In some ways it’s harder because everyone has an opinion about contemporary clothes even down to the craft service person. And you’d be surprised how many people comment and second-guess you. And everyone thinks how easy it is to get something else so you have to be ready for many changes and at the last minute. Also you have to have racks of options. Designing contemporary film and television can be very time consuming and it can come with a lot of headaches.

22. Would you say costume design as a field now is different to how it was in the 80s/90s, and if so would you say for the worse or better?

I’m not sure that Costume Design has necessarily changed much from the 80s and 90s but the film business sure has. It has become much more corporate and business orientated, so decisions are made mostly concerning the bottom line. That impacts the Costume Designer. Also a lot more is expected for less time and less crew. And now, television shows have to have the same quality as film and on a much more rigorous time schedule.

And then we get into the inequity of pay for Costume Designers as they are paid far less than their peer collaborators in the film and television business. People think it’s because Costume Design has a much higher percentage of women. And as we know, women rarely get paid as much as their male peers in general. In that way Costume Designing has stayed the same but I hope that changes soon. But it will only happen if people speak out about it.

23. As a last aside; when it comes to your entire career, which would you say was your favorite costume at all, from all that time?

I couldn’t possibly say ! Designing costumes has always been an all encompassing endeavor for me. I think it’s the closest you can get to birthing children. Every one of your costumes, with the help of all your crew and co-workers, are your progeny. Sure you can admit some are more successful than others but it’s too hard to choose favorites.

Well, that's a great note to go out on! Again, I would love to thank Durinda Wood for her time and patience in answering these questions, as well as having been so gracious to give me these costume sketches and almost all the photos I used in this interview (as well as in the entries for The Journey Inside, which could only have been properly written up thanks to her). You can give her own website a look at durindawood.com, which contains many more photos from her decades-long career.