Disney and Central Saint Martins students collaborate on Beauty and the Beast custume project

Walt Disney Studios together with Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London have launched a costume collaboration inspired by the soon to be released movie, Beauty and the Beast.
The project involved 13 students from Central Saint Martins’ BA Performance Design and Practices course, working in small groups to design a collection of costumes, based on the key themes, motifs and characters of the new Beauty and the Beast live-action film.

Beauty and the Beast costumes by students of Central Saint Martins' BA Performance Design and Practices.

Jacqueline Durran, the film’s Academy Award® winning costume designer, supported the project by taking time to mentor the students at the Kings Cross campus of Central Saint Martins and helped select their final designs to produce.

Verity Cleary, Costume Specialist Technician for the Drama & Performance programme and creative lead on the project said: “The Beauty and the Beast project has been an inspiring platform to push the students' creativity and imagination, producing innovative costume creations. The students were extremely lucky to have Jacqueline Durran's guidance during the final design presentation. This supported them in interpreting costumes where sustainability was key.”

Belle and Beast costume by Faye Lee and Tasmin Case.

Tasmin Case, a student who co-designed an innovative costume which combined elements of Belle and the Beast, comments: “The nostalgia of the film made it very interesting from a design perspective - attempting to do justice to a film that resonates with so many who watched it growing up. As an adult, watching the new live-action film, I found new meanings in the story such as acceptance and inner beauty that inspired my design process.”

Her design partner, Faye Lee elaborates: “We took the idea of inner beauty literally, applying it to our design by revealing the layers of undergarments.  The film highlights that it’s not all about appearance, and that’s why we combined both Belle and the Beast into our costume.”

The Rose designed by Chris Goodman an Jo Jo Faucher.

The Bell Jar designed by Preeyaporn Thammajariyaphan, Victoria Adebayo and Fie Neo. 

Cogsworth by Matilda Eldon-McCaig and Esme Callaghan

The project has been supported by Austrian company Swarovski, whose crystals feature in several costumes and set design elements in the film, including Belle’s iconic yellow dress which sparkles with 2,160 crystals. Swarovski also manufactured the Bell Jar, based on Disney’s original design. Decorating the top of its ornate dome is a bespoke-cut crystal finial shining with 543 facets. The crystal house donated over 20,000 crystals to the Central Saint Martins project, which the students have incorporated into all six of the designs.

Swarovski is committed to creating educational opportunities and supporting the next generation of design talent, and has collaborated with Central Saint Martins on the BA Fashion Design Project for over 15 years.

To fully appreciate the students' creative works and the wonder of their designs, watch this film clip on Youtube.  Click HERE. 

Be Our Guest costume by Neelam Rehman and Rosie Crisp

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast releases across the UK from Friday March 17th.  The film, which achieved a record-breaking 127.6 million trailer views during its first 24 hours, sees the story and characters audiences know and love come to spectacular life in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s animated classic film in a stunning, cinematic event that celebrates one of the most beloved tales ever told.

The Inventor by Emily Penfold and Darcy Davies.

All photos from Disney/Premier Comms.