Milena Canonero OMRI (born 1 January 1946) is an Italian costume designer, production designer, and film producer. In a career spanning over five decades, she is recognized for her prolific work across stage and screen. She has received numerous accolades, including four Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, and a David di Donatello Award. Canonero has been the recipient of various honorary awards, including the Honorary Golden Bear in 2017.

Milena Canonero
Canonero in 2017
Born (1946-01-01) 1 January 1946 (age 78)
Turin, Kingdom of Italy
Occupations
Years active1971–present
Spouse
(m. 1980)

Canonero is best known for her collaborations with directors Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola, and Wes Anderson. She has received nine nominations for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and has won four times for Barry Lyndon (1975), Chariots of Fire (1981), Marie Antoinette (2006), and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).

Early life and education

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Canonero was born in Turin, Italy. She attended university in Genoa, studying fashion, period design, and art history before moving to England in the late 1960's to complete her studies.[1] She designed for friends' boutiques in London and began assisting in commercials, meeting many filmmakers along the way, including director Hugh Hudson.[2] He gave Canonero her first break on his short film, which was shot on location in Sicily. She was involved in all aspects of the production and found the entire process captivating.[1] By chance, Canonero was also invited to watch Stanley Kubrick shoot parts of the landmark 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and the director asked her to collaborate with him on his next feature film.[2]

Career

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Canonero received her first major screen credits for designing costumes for Kubrick's dystopian classic A Clockwork Orange (1971). She created an instantly recognizable character's wardrobe that perfectly captures the film's discourse on class, money, and power through provoking aesthetics, which has since become an enduring inspiration for fashion icons and designers.[3] Canonero continued her professional relationship with the director on the epic period drama Barry Lyndon (1975). During an extensive preproduction period, she and Swedish costume designer Ulla-Britt Söderlund examined original 18th-century attire at London's Victoria and Albert Museum and copied patterns from the collection to produce authentic-looking film garments.[1] They also drew inspiration from period-defining art, including portraits by Thomas Gainsborough and Joshua Reynolds, genre paintings by Jean Siméon Chardin, as well as the bawdy paintings by William Hogarth, among others.[1] Those remarkable efforts won them the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.[2] Then George Lucas approached her to design costumes for his space opera Star Wars (1977), an offer she eventually turned down and later considered the biggest missed opportunity of her career.[2] Canonero worked with Kubrick once again on the cult psychological horror The Shining (1980). She won her second Academy Award for another collaboration with Hudson, this time on his iconic sports drama Chariots of Fire (1981), the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics. She superbly interpreted the 1920s English tweeds, blazers, and college garb to the extent of inspiring 1980s fashion trends; such great success led to an offer for Canonero to create a clothing line for men's-wear manufacturer Norman Hilton, for which she received a special Coty Award.[2]

Canonero’s next major film was Sydney Pollack's Out of Africa (1985), based on Danish author Karen Blixen's autobiographical memoir of the same name about her decade-long experiences in colonial Kenya starting just before the outbreak of World War I. Canonero faced a formidable challenge when tasked in a strict three-month term to research, design, and produce hundreds of costumes appropriate for a vast ensemble of characters that includes African natives, white hunters, and European nobility. It took her on an intense journey everywhere, from the New York Public Library to the various museums and costume houses across England and Italy, and from the Blixen’s home in Denmark to Africa, where she met anthropologist Richard Leakey, who consulted her on less known aspects of African fashion in the 1910s, especially those regarding the ingenious groups.[4]

Beside her well-established screen career, Canonero is known for creating costumes for stage. She frequently collaborated with director Otto Schenk on his numerous opera productions. Those include Il trittico (Vienna State Opera, 1979), As You Like It (Salzburg Festival, 1980), Die Fledermaus (Vienna State Opera, 1980), Andrea Chénier (Vienna State Opera, 1981), and Arabella (Metropolitan Opera, 1983). She also worked with director Luc Bondy on such productions as Tosca (Metropolitan Opera, 2009) and Helena (Burgtheater, 2010).

On television, Canonero designed costumes for crime drama series Miami Vice in the 1980s.[5]

In 2001, Canonero received the Career Achievement Award in Film from the Costume Designers Guild. In 2005, Canonero won the guild's award for excellence in contemporary film for her work on Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). She won her third Oscar for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006).

 
Details of the costumes worn by Ralph Fiennes and Tilda Swinton in The Grand Budapest Hotel, designed by Canonero.

Canonero reteamed with Anderson in 2014 on The Grand Budapest Hotel, for which she received her ninth nomination and fourth win at the 87th Academy Awards. She also won a BAFTA award for her work on the film.

Personal life

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Canonero is married to actor Marshall Bell, and they live in West Hollywood, California.

Filmography

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Year Title Director Notes
1971 A Clockwork Orange Stanley Kubrick
1975 Barry Lyndon Co-designed with Ulla-Britt Söderlund
1977 The Disappearance Stuart Cooper
1978 Midnight Express Alan Parker
1980 The Shining Stanley Kubrick
1981 Chariots of Fire Hugh Hudson
1983 The Hunger Tony Scott
1984 Give My Regards to Broad Street Peter Webb
The Cotton Club Francis Ford Coppola
1985 Out of Africa Sydney Pollack
1987 Good Morning, Babylon Paolo Taviani
Vittorio Taviani
Associate producer only
Barfly Barbet Schroeder
1988 Tucker: The Man and His Dream Francis Ford Coppola
1989 Lost Angels Hugh Hudson Costume design consultant only
Also known as The Road Home
1990 The Bachelor Roberto Faenza Co-designed with Alberto Verso
Dick Tracy Warren Beatty
Reversal of Fortune Barbet Schroeder Costume consultant only
The Godfather Part III Francis Ford Coppola
1992 Single White Female Barbet Schroeder Also production designer
Damage Louis Malle
1994 Only You Norman Jewison
Love Affair Glenn Gordon Caron
Camilla Deepa Mehta
Death and the Maiden Roman Polanski
1998 Bulworth Warren Beatty
1999 Titus Julie Taymor
2001 The Affair of the Necklace Charles Shyer
2002 Solaris Steven Soderbergh
2004 Eros Segment: "Equilibrium"
Ocean's Twelve
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Wes Anderson
2006 Marie Antoinette Sofia Coppola
Belle Toujours Manoel de Oliveira
2007 Hotel Chevalier Wes Anderson Short film acts as a prologue to The Darjeeling Limited
The Darjeeling Limited
I Viceré Roberto Faenza
2010 The Wolfman Joe Johnston
2011 Carnage Roman Polanski
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Roberto Faenza Producer only
2013 Romeo & Juliet Carlo Carlei Co-producer only
Something Good Luca Barbareschi
Castello Cavalcanti Wes Anderson Short film
2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel
2016 Paris Can Wait Eleanor Coppola
2018 The Sisters Brothers Jacques Audiard
2021 The French Dispatch Wes Anderson
2022 Hill of Vision Roberto Faenza Also producer
Co-designed with Bojana Nikitovic
2023 Asteroid City Wes Anderson
2024 Megalopolis Francis Ford Coppola

Awards and nominations

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Major associations

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Academy Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
1975 Best Costume Design Barry Lyndon Won [6]
1981 Chariots of Fire Won [7]
1985 Out of Africa Nominated [8]
1988 Tucker: The Man and His Dream Nominated [9]
1990 Dick Tracy Nominated [10]
1999 Titus Nominated [11]
2001 The Affair of the Necklace Nominated [12]
2006 Marie Antoinette Won [13]
2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel Won [14]

BAFTA Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
British Academy Film Awards
1975 Best Costume Design Barry Lyndon Nominated [15]
1981 Chariots of Fire Won [16]
1985 The Cotton Club Won [17]
1986 Out of Africa Nominated [18]
1990 Dick Tracy Nominated [19]
2006 Marie Antoinette Nominated [20]
2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel Won [21]
2021 The French Dispatch Nominated [22]

Miscellaneous awards

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List of Milena Canonero other awards and nominations
Award Year Category Title Result Ref.
Berlin International Film Festival 2017 Honorary Golden Bear Honored [23]
César Awards 2018 Best Costume Design The Sisters Brothers Nominated [24]
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards 2023 Best Costume Design Asteroid City Nominated [25]
Ciak d'oro 1990 Best Costume Design The Bachelor Nominated
2008 I Viceré Nominated
Costume Designers Guild Awards 2000 Career Achievement Award Honored [26]
2004 Excellence in Contemporary Film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou Won [27]
Ocean's Twelve Nominated [28]
2006 Excellence in Period Film Marie Antoinette Nominated [29]
2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel Won [30]
2016 Excellence in Short Form Design H&M: "Come Together" Nominated [31]
Coty Awards 1984 Special Award for tailored clothing Honored [32]
Critics' Choice Movie Awards 2014 Best Costume Design The Grand Budapest Hotel Won [33]
David di Donatello Awards 1990 Best Costumes The Bachelor Nominated
2008 I Viceré Won [34]
Hollywood Film Awards 2014 Hollywood Costume Design Award The Grand Budapest Hotel Won [35]
Nastro d'Argento Awards 1989 Best Costume Design Tucker: The Man and His Dream Nominated
1991 The Bachelor Nominated
2007 Marie Antoinette Won [36]
2008 I Viceré Won [37]
2012 Best Producer Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Nominated [38]
2014 Best Costume Design The Grand Budapest Hotel and Something Good Won [39]
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2021 Best Costume Design The French Dispatch Nominated [40]
2023 Asteroid City Nominated [41]
Rodeo Drive Walk of Style 2006 Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award Honored [42]
Satellite Awards 1999 Best Costume Design Titus Nominated
2001 The Affair of the Necklace Nominated [43]
2006 Marie Antoinette Nominated [44]
2014 The Grand Budapest Hotel Won [45]
Saturn Awards 1983 Best Costume Design The Hunger Nominated [46]
1989/90 Dick Tracy Nominated [47]
2010 The Wolfman Nominated [48]

Other honours

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References

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  2. ^ a b c d e Gross, Michael (February 11, 1986). "MILENA CANONERO: FASHION ON AND OFF THE BIG SCREEN". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 24, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
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Further reading

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  • Fabienne Liptay (ed.), Milena Canonero. Film-Konzepte 40 (edition text + kritik, 2015).
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