Dressing for Dystopia
Remarks by Paula Wallace at SCADshow on April 30, 2018
Good evening, everyone!
SCAD is the world’s preeminent source of knowledge in film and television because we celebrate, educate, and graduate new generations of screenwriters, directors, sound designers, performers, and — of course! — costume designers. Clothes matter at SCAD! That’s why The Hollywood Reporter named SCAD one of the top ten universities for the study of costume design.
Every actor knows the centrality of costume to character, and every viewer of Hulu’s haunting series, The Handmaid’s Tale, knows the centrality of costume to the story. The Handmaids’ crimson, like drops of blood, the Commander’s Wives peacocking about in cool teal, the Marthas nearly erased in clouds of dove grey — these colors and silhouettes have seared our collective consciousness and rippled through our society. The woman behind this phenomenon is the discerning and brilliant Ane Crabtree.
Ane! What a gorgeous tableaux of repression you’ve created!
Let me invite everyone to the SCAD FASH exhibition “Dressing for Dystopia,” which runs through summer. At our museum of fashion and film, you are invited into this distinctive landscape for an intimate look at the exquisite garments of Gilead. Following this evening’s screening please join Ane and members of the irrepressible cast in a discussion moderated by the savvy and sophisticated Eric Wilson of InStyle magazine. Love you, Eric!
SCAD friends and family, you are in for a ride with the world premiere of Episode 3 of the hottest and most horrifying show streaming. I want to especially thank the Consulate General of Canada for their financial support of the exhibition and tonight’s screening, as well as SCAD alumnus Mangue Banzima, who first brought me the idea of bringing the costumes to SCAD FASH. Thank you, Mangue! Now, SCADFILM is pleased to present the world premiere screening of Episode 3 in the second season of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale!
