Chris Benz is EPIC

 Many fashionistas swoon at the costume designs in our favorite movies.  How often are fashion designers inspired by an animated film and vice versa?  Last week, fashion designer Chris Benz sat down with the art director of Epic the Movie, Michael Knapp to discuss their creative process.

Both projects were deeply inspired by nature.  The movie is an animated tale of a teenage girl transported to the magical world of the forest.  The warrior community she meets are very small and are seeing the forest from the viewpoint of the ground looking up, so much of the surroundings were drawn with this in mind.  A lot of thought went into the costumes of the characters, even if they weren't actual clothing that would be worn be live actors.  The costumes were based on textures inspired by materials found in nature or would be suited to whatever creature the character happened to be.  Some great costume design sketches and fashion boards were on display so you could see the aesthetic.

Chris Benz, after meeting up with a publicity person from the film, was also inspired by nature.  After seeing creative ideas for the film, it made him review pieces from his Spring 2013 collection.  He put together a mood board based on the film and rethought a green gown he designed in terms of patterns and color found in nature.

To all the creatives, how does fashion influence your work?  For the fashion designers, how has a film affected your creative process?

Epic the Movie comes out May 24, 2013.