The Wicked: For Good Costume Designer Reveals How He Created the Magical Looks Worn by the Film's Stars

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For Oscar-, Emmy-, and two-time Tony Award–winning designer, Paul Tazewell, he built on the characters he outfitted in Wicked to showcase their evolution in the sequel, Wicked: For Good. "For Glinda, we realize how she has become kind of a bird in a cage," Tazewell said. "She's become a propagandist figure of good, albeit dressed impeccably in an elegant kind of Hollywood glamour."

When it came to designing the costume for Cynthia Erivo's character, Elphaba, Tazewell took inspiration from the original 1939 character, the Wicked Witch of the West, with a twist. "I've taken that as an idea or as a silhouette, and I've reformed that into one that is more of a power figure," Tazewell said.

For the latest episode of The Who What Wear Podcast, Tazewell shares how he designed the costumes for the sequel, where he took inspiration from, and more.

For excerpts from their conversation, scroll below.

In Wicked: For Good, you were building off of the characters in the universe that you had already outfitted in Wicked. Of course, a lot has changed since then, and Elphaba and Glinda have gone through a bit of a journey and grown quite a bit. How did you start to think about approaching that change and how it would be reflected in their costumes?

When we pick up with Wicked: For Good, we are about a year after leaving them, which is when Elphaba jumps through the window on her broom, with cape and hat in hand, and sings "Defying Gravity." When we open up to Wicked: For Good, we see that she has evolved into this heroic figure. It's represented by a sweeping coat and trousers that we had set up as part of her silhouette in Wicked Part 1, in Shiz.