Column: Canonero for Wes Anderson: Stars, Prada and a Budapest Hotel

Now that the battle for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design between Catherine Martin of “The Great Gatsby” and Michael Wilkinson of “American Hustle” is over, I’m ready to look ahead to next year. Enter Milena Canonero.

Canonero designed the costumes for Wes Anderson’s upcoming film “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and produced a perfect blend of whimsy and 1930s European nostalgia.

She hardly needs more of an introduction. She has designed costumes for flicks such as “The Shining,” “The Godfather: Part III” and “Ocean’s Twelve.”

She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design eight times, winning three times. Her first win was for the 1975 film “Barry Lyndon.” Her third win came in 2007 for “Marie Antoinette.”

Canero, now 68, received a tricky assignment in the form of “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Set in Europe in the early 1930s, the film required not only vintage detailing but also — it being a Wes Anderson film — the careful combination of fantasy and simplicity.

For the film, Canonero designed costumes for recurring Anderson favorites like Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman and Tilda Swinton. Swinton, as well as the likes of Jeff Goldblum, Jude Law, Adrien Brody, Ralph Fiennes and Owen Wilson, reflecting the grandeur of a luxury hotel in her designs and reaching new heights in the process. 

Canonero accomplished this, in part, by capitalizing on Anderson’s relationship with another of his favorite collaborators, Miuccia Prada, to secure unorthodox accessories.
 For Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums,” Prada fashioned a number of “nerdish” looks specifically to fit the film.

This time, Prada created a 21-piece leather luggage set to be used by characters Madam D., played by Tilda Swinton, and M. Gustave H., played by Ralph
Fiennes.

When it came to finding tailored travel accessories, Canonero turned to the late Umberto Tirelli, a renowned Italian tailor, costume historian and collector.

Tirelli’s work was famous for his use of age-old techniques.

Canonero uses these same techniques to perfect the vintage fits of everything from rich purple concierge suits that sport double-breasted gold buttons to guard suits.

But not everything is fitted to a tee. We see one character laced with an abundance of pearl strands and color.

It adds just enough contrast to a still splendidly uniformed film. “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is a typical Anderson film in all the right ways and a clever presentation of what

I deem to be Canonero’s most exquisite designs to date.

It will be out this Friday. I’ll be tweeting an open invitation.