Alexandra Byrne Quotes

United Kingdom, Costume Designer
1960

Alexandra J. Byrne is an English costume designer. Much of her career has focused on creating costumes for historical period dramas. These films include Persuasion (1995), Hamlet (1996), Elizabeth (1998), Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001), Finding Neverland (2004), The Phantom of the Opera (2004), Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), and Mary Queen of Scots (2018). Byrne's costume design work has earned her five Oscar nominations, and she won the award for Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

Usually when you start the characters, the first thing is the script. Your design work is about telling the story. It's later that casting comes into play, but it's a huge component.

Alexandra Byrne
- Story
- Characters
- Script
We should build respect and understanding between the diverse cultures of the world. We should help construct communities where people of different backgrounds can live together as neighbors. Freedom is something for which we must fight, not by limiting it but by strengthening it.

Alexandra Byrne

I look at comic books, and I do very eclectic mood boards with ideas and images that have to do with a character or story point. It's a bit like spinning plates. You gradually just steal your ideas.

Alexandra Byrne
- Ideas
- Mood
- Comic Book
I use color very instinctively.

Alexandra Byrne
- Color
- Use
- Instinctively
The main way I start to allocate color is that it comes from the comics. That's where it all starts from.

Alexandra Byrne
- Color
- Comics
- Starts
I think color, for a costume designer, is one of your biggest storytelling devices.

Alexandra Byrne