Joseph La Corte: Designing costumes for ‘Fellow Travelers’ was ’85 percent exciting and 15 percent daunting’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

For Emmy-nominated costume designer Joseph La Corte, the prospect of designing the looks for Showtime’s “Fellow Travelers” was too exciting to pass up. The series, which covers a period of time between the mid 1950’s and the late 1980’s, offered no shortage of inspiration. “We got to cover four of the most influential fashion decades in fashion,” he exclaims in a recent interview with Gold Derby. “So of course that was exciting.”

The creation of the costumes was more of a challenge, just in terms of numbers alone. “I think in total, it was 4, 446 costumes total for the principals and the background,” he says. “So on a scale, it was 85 percent exciting and 15 percent daunting.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

La Corte’s work began with the scripts, and after initial meetings with director Daniel Minahan and executive producer Ron Nyswaner, La Corte went to work sketching. “I sketch the ideas out to send to the director and the showrunner and the creators,” he explains. “And fortunately, for this project 85 percent of what I initially put out was on the screen.”

La Corte also worked close with the actors in creating the looks for each character. In the case of the show’s star Matt Bomer, who plays the ambitious and repressed Hawk Fuller, those conversations yielded specific changes to the design. “After a couple of conversations with Matt we were like, ‘Let’s stay in the cool world for you. Let’s do grays and blues,'” recalls La Corte. “So the actor’s input is just as important to me as the director’s and the showrunner’s.”

The same was true for Bomer’s co-star Jonathan Bailey, who plays the idealistic and lovelorn Tim Laughlin. Whereas Bomer’s character represented wealth and privilege, Bailey’s had a more practical look that reflected the character’s economic status. “[Tim] is from Staten Island. He has no money,” says La Corte. I wanted the clothes to already have a life in them. And Jonny felt really good about that. [The clothes] have so many stories to tell, so he wanted to add his story to them.”

La Corte believes that the show is a reminder of the continued struggles that the queer community continues to face. “Many of the challenges back then are still being threatened today,” he says. “We’re still fighting some of these things. It’s the same thing, but it’s trans rights and medical care for trans people. So it may waver to a different sector of the LGBTQ+ community, but it’s still the same fight for all of us.”

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