Glass speaks to Hollywood’s most-sought after costume designer Heidi Bivens about her on-screen successes from Mid90s to Euphoria, and how she is looking to move behind the camera
“I pay a lot of attention to costumes when watching film and television. It would be impossible not to” Heidi Bivens explains when asked if she, a costume designer, can switch off when she watches a movie or show. “I find it even more difficult to watch anything that I was up for and didn’t get because I’ll spend the whole time thinking about what I could have done differently. It will really affect the whole viewing experience for me.”
It’s that kind of passion and attention to detail that makes Heidi such a creative force in costume design – a field that, until recently, was perhaps not talked about as much but that is now getting the recognition it deserves. Especially thanks to a show like Euphoria, which she worked on for both seasons – but more on that later.
Heidi Bivens, the Emmy-nominated costume designer and international fashion stylist, began her career in New York City in the nineties, where she moved straight after high school. “I’m so thankful to have grown up in New York in the nineties and early two thousands, before the advent of social media. It was a different, simpler time and I tend to romanticise that era” she reminisces. After a period spent interning for magazines such as W Magazine and Paper and dabbling in journalism, it wasn’t until she worked as a costume PA on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) that doors really started to open for Heidi.
Behind-the-scenes from Jonah Hill’s A24 Mid90s
Her path eventually now led her to costume design and styling, having worked with boundary breaking auteurs like David Lynch, Spike Jonze and Harmony Korine, as well as on Jonah Hill’s Mid90s (2018) and of course, the phenomenon that is Euphoria. But Heidi’s true passion, as well as fashion, has always been film: “What I really love is the art of storytelling. I am interested in the bigger picture rather than perhaps the singular focus of what characters are wearing. And these days I am leaning towards writing and directing.”
Still from Jonah Hill’s A24 Mid90s
Her nostalgia for the nineties does not seem to be an isolated sentiment. Jonah Hill’s A24 produced, coming-of-age directorial debut Mid90s is like a love letter to the nineties and the skater look, placing the baggy t-shirt and jeans look to the forefront of the narrative, thanks to Bivens. She describes the project as “a special experience that I was able to share with a crew of like minded creatives. It wasn’t just a job but an amazing experience where everyone was excited to come to work everyday and make a film they believed in”.
The film follows a thirteen-year-old who befriends a crew of skateboarders in 1990s Los Angeles, which is inspired by Hill’s own childhood. It’s no surprise then that a lot of the crew had a background in skating, including Jonah Hill, Director of Photography Chris Blauvelt and Production Designer Jahmin Assa, as well as Heidi herself. “I was also a teenager during the mid nineties and was part of a community of skaters in Washington DC, so it was easy for me to jump into that world and know how to approach the costumes. I also happened to still have all of my skate mags from that era at my mother’s house, so I even took a trip home and was able to do all the ‘research’ needed [for the film].”
Still of James Franco in Spring Breakers
The serendipity of recently having worked on a film from that specific era is intriguing, seeing as nineties and early noughties fashion is clearly having a resurgence. Why does she think that is? “Fashion tends to be cyclical. The fact that the style of the nineties and early 2000s is resurfacing has to do with a younger generation who wasn’t around for it, discovering it for the first time. When I was a teenager, there was a seventies style resurgence. I remember my friends and I would search for seventies style flared jeans and crocheted knit halter tops in thrift stores. I think it’s just a matter of time before a decade’s trend will come back around again. What’s happening in fashion now will probably resurface twenty years from now.”
Still of Alexa Demie in HBO’s Euphoria
Trends, however, are not something Heidi Bivens likes to follow. Instead, she aims to think outside the box and take risks, which is probably one of the reasons why Euphoria’s creator Sam Levinson would simply write “Heidi, do your thing” as a wardrobe cue in the script. How does it feel to be working with a director who has complete trust in her vision?
“I find this kind of trust to be rare, but I only want to work this way now. And it’s tricky, because when you are working with people for the first time, you are obviously taking a chance. Now, when I am interviewing for a job, I need to feel as if I am interviewing the director in the same way. I need to have some kind of assurance that it will be a good match creatively before I sign on to a project.” Levinson’s trust has evidently paid off, and her work on Euphoria has been nominated not once, but three times for an Emmy for Outstanding Contemporary Costumes.
Still of Zendaya in HBO’s Euphoria
Biven’s contribution to the success of the series is undeniable, creating timeless, iconic looks by skilfully combining experimentation and novelty with authenticity and realism. “I think it boils down to instinct,” she explains. “It’s a combination of nature and nurture. Everything that interests and inspires me to make creative decisions is a result of everything I have seen and experienced in my life so far, but there is also a gut feeling that is part of my emotional make-up and that isn’t necessarily something I’ve learned.”
By not following trends and using her instincts in order to create timeless looks for Euphoria’s characters also meant that, when production was on a halt due to the pandemic – they were just about to start shooting the second season when Covid-19 hit – there wasn’t a need to make any significant changes. Her costuming decisions turned out to be, once again, on point: when season two came out it brought us even more wardrobe envy and, importantly, continued to address specific topics like body positivity and body ownership.
Still of Barbie Ferreira in HBO’s Euphoria
“When I was working on the first season of Euphoria, I was very aware that the female cast were very body positive in a way I wasn’t used to when working with actresses” she says. “It was incredibly refreshing and became part of my agenda with the costumes: to celebrate the female form in a more carefree way and not worrying about judgement or criticism. With the second season there was an opportunity to continue with that approach, but as a talking point ‘body positivity’ had become kind of a cliché and was even parodied in a daydream scene, where Kat [Barbie Ferreira] is overwhelmed by influencer types shouting ‘love yourself’ in her bathroom mirror.”
Another noticeable feature when it comes to the costume design in Euphoria is each character’s individual colour palette, a conscious choice that seemingly reflects the character’s arc and inner life. “From the very beginning, I understood that it would be important to differentiate the look of the characters on the show, seeing as they often appear on camera together as an ensemble cast,” she explains.
“Colour is an easy way to build a signature look for a character and using similar colours over time, the audience begins to identify and associate those colours as belonging to a specific character. And as the story progresses, the gradual changing of colours in costumes is an easy way to illustrate the characters’ psychology and emotions.”
Still of Maude Apatow in HBO’s Euphoria
And when it comes to her own personal style, does she feel, like the characters she dresses, that it encapsulates where she is in life: physically, mentally, emotionally, professionally? “One hundred percent. But I am also a creature of habit and don’t experiment much with my personal style these days. Instead, I have a lot of fun living vicariously through the characters. One of the best things about creating costumes for teen characters is that they are experimenting with style, and figure out who they are and what they want to be on a daily basis, so there is a lot of room for trying out different ideas.”
Still of Hunter Schafer in HBO’s Euphoria
Heidi seems to inherently know what young people respond to and relate to when it comes to clothing, capturing the essence of youth that promotes confidence and individuality. So, how important is it for the younger generation to express themselves through clothing?
“It’s one of the most visible and visceral ways to express yourself. I’m hoping that people are inspired to take more chances with their style after watching [Euphoria]. Bullying has been such a big problem for young people in the past, but several reputable university studies have shown that bullying and cyberbullying statistics are down since the pandemic. We seem to currently be in a time of more acceptance for young people to express themselves, without fear of being ostracised for it.”
So what’s next for Heidi Bivens? “At the moment I am working on producing a few projects: a show from the same producers as Euphoria called The Idol, and a motion capture animated show called Gossamer, of which I directed the first four episodes. I’m most excited about an erotic thriller I’m writing for a feature length film. But most importantly I am involved in a non-profit organisation called The Film Path, which mentors below the line BIPOC and transgender artists in film and television.” A perfect example of a multi-hyphenate, if ever there was one.
by Roxanne Nielson