Soyon An and Her Dangerously Beautiful Costume Design

Soyon An is on fire! Her name is making headlines for her celebrity styling, wardrobe work, and costume design. She’s a two-time Emmy Award winner for her work on So You Think You Can Dance. Her wardrobe styling for American Idol has been seen by millions. Her clients include Jordin Sparks, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert, to mention a few. She’s assisted in styling projects for Mariah Carey, Jennifer Lopez, and more. And she’s currently doing the Costume Design for the highly anticipated Dangerous Beauty, opening at the Pasadena Playhouse on February 13.

Does Soyon An ever sleep? “Actually, that’s a problem right now,” she admits. “But, you know, when you love what you do, time flies and you don’t really feel too tired, you know?” An’s passion for her work shows, not just in her enormous success, but also in her very soul. She lives and breathes fashion. And the images that splash across the web pages touting her latest project, Dangerous Beauty, are so rich in color and steeped in drama that you almost feel that you are in 16th Century Venice with courtesans and royalty brushing past you. Just a glance and the intensity of the costumes is palpable.

An became involved with Dangerous Beauty when one of the producers, Tara Smith, called her. After reading the script, An “totally fell in love.” The musical is based on the film of the same name and the novel, “An Honest Courtesan.” The story centers on Veronica Franco (played by Jenny Powers), who goes from riches to courtesan when her family fortune is lost; she then rises to become the most influential woman in Venice but finds herself on trial for witchcraft as the Inquisition made its way to Venice.

Unlike Idol, An says of Dangerous Beauty, “…on a show like this, I’m building everything from scratch, [starting] off as sketches and concepts and fabric swatching, to patterns, then draping muslin, then actual fabric.” The staggering level of detail takes into account “colors and silhouettes…how the costumes marry with the individual’s body type,” and even takes into account “skin tone.” And, you can’t count on camera angles to help hide things or make certain things “pop” as when shooting in HD. But at least designing for live stage performance allows more time for “tweaking things” than live television where An explains, “you have one shot. That’s it. When it’s on-air and it’s live, it is what it is and the whole nation sees it.”

An worked closely with Director Sheryl Kaller to set the tone. “It was a collaboration,” remarks An. Nevertheless, An brings a lot to the table in the world of costume design. “It was like a puzzle and I love puzzles,” she comments. “I gave her my ideas right off the bat,” An continues. “[Sheryl] was like, ‘Great, fantastic.’” An provided swatches of fabric to Russell Champa, Lighting Designer, “for Russell to know what kind of lighting challenges or advantages” he would encounter. Swatches were also provided to Benoit-Swan Pouffer, Choreographer, so he could “get a sense of how heavy or how light the fabric was.”

Dangerous Beauty has been described as “beyond sumptuous” and “eye popping” by the Chicago Sun-Times. An weaves modern fashion trends and vibrant color into the authentic period costumes. In addition to the saturated colors of the time period, An adds hot pinks and electric blues “to bring in the modern twist, to bring in the punk, to bring in the funk,” she notes. For those who love fashion and costume, An predicts, “I think they’re going to leave the show inspired.” In addition to the rich colors of the costumes, Swarovski crystals and glitter create a beautiful shimmer when needed. An literally travels the world looking for colors or techniques that aren’t found in the U.S. “I was just in Peru,” An explains, “and they were demonstrating how they dye their fabrics with flowers and things in the mountains…and they grind everything. It’s amazing, the colors that you get from mustard seed…insects. I mean, it’s so crazy.” An draws inspiration from Rest In Peace and really admires Alexander McQueen’s work, and notes, “a lot of L.A. designers are really cool.” Additional inspiration comes from visiting museums and art galleries, “when I go and look at a Degas portrait, Michelangelo, Leonardo, those kinds of portraits. Then you go look at surrealism work that current artists are doing…it’s not just fashion artists that inspire me. I think it’s artists in general because they bring such a creative and original eye to something we see every day.”

What’s next for An? With such a breadth of experience and accolades, perhaps a vacation? “I am starting my own clothing line…That’s my next venture.” With this project not even finished, she already has begun the next. It looks like sleep will still have to wait for Soyon An.