‘The Little Mermaid’ Costume Designer Was Inspired by the Seven Seas

The Little Mermaid costume designer Colleen Atwood and filmmaker Rob Marshall have a working relationship that has already spanned more than 20 years, after first joining forces on Chicago (which won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Costume Design, among others). Immersing herself in nautical and marine research and taking inspiration from the life within the Seven Season and the colors of the ocean, Atwood created stand-out looks for all the inhabitants of this much beloved world, from the humans to the merfolk to the story’s tentacled villain.

​ Costume designer Colleen Atwood on ‘The Little Mermaid,’ taking inspiration from underwater life, and the costumes for ‘Beetlejuice 2.’