Paul Tazewell stood in the center of a third-floor fashion studio at Kent State University’s Rockwell Hall, surveying a collection of zero-waste designs until his eyes landed on a dress to critique.
Starting at a pattern cutting table, Tazewell, an Akron native and Oscar-, Tony- and Emmy-winning costume designer, moved from one design to another. He observed students propped against their upcycled garments and shuffling through design mockup slides on iPads. A student had experience tailoring pieces under designers in Hong Kong. Another assisted in New York City costume design on sets for the “Sex and the City” spinoff “And Just Like That…”
Tazewell muttered feedback and traced seams of reclaimed fabrics while asking students about their personal stories and the logic behind the creations.
“He pretty much said that I should just try and be more purposeful,” said Nich Poulin, junior fashion design student. “A lot of my design came together, not accidentally, but it was thrown together. He said if all that was more purposeful, he thinks it would have been much better.”
Tazewell dared students to further investigate their designs and add intention to each garment. He also discussed the importance of storytelling, approach and value in designs.
“How we approach the value of clothing as it represents how we show up and identify and shape shift, clothing helps us be in control of what that image is,” Tazewell, who designed “Wicked” costumes for Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, told a room of students with varying levels of design experience.
“So, it’s a very powerful medium to use.”
Tazewell’s works from “Wicked” are sprinkled in the Kent State University Museum — nods of emerald green backdrops, yellow bricked steps and original costumes.
His Broadway journey started in Akron
At first, Tazewell wanted to be on stage. In Akron, he worked with the Goodyear Community Theatre and was a member of Buchtel High School’s performing arts program.
Not long after graduating from high school, he “let go” of singing, acting and dancing aspirations, opting to focus on “what seemed to be coming much more easily,” Tazewell said at Kent State.
Tazewell landed in Washington, D.C., as a resident costume designer, where he cultivated his design skills. He began to freelance Broadway fashion design shortly after, sewing pieces mostly for theater shows.
From ‘Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk’ to ‘Wicked’
In 1996, Tazewell made noise in the fashion world with his first Broadway show. He designed Tony-nominated costumes for “Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk.”
Well known now for his Oscar-winning designs in the film “Wicked,” Tazewell also won Tony awards for his costume designs for Broadway musicals “Hamilton” and “Death Becomes Her.” He also created the costumes for “The Color Purple” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” among others.
From performing-arts programs to crafting pink, layered, 19th century-esque costumes, Tazewell hopes the young designers in his hometown are inspired by local programs and that organizations continue to motivate aspiring artists.
“I worked with the Goodyear Community Theater,” Tazewell said. “I was a part of the performing arts program. So to have these programs throughout this area that helps to inspire, it provides visibility and experience, everything that helps push a young aspiring artist out.”
In Kent State’s design studio, many of the mannequins were draped with garments that combined pink floral patterns with black and white vertical stripes or tightly tied corsets with looping braided pieces of fabric.
Student designers saw a mentor in Tazewell. With hopes of breaking into costume design and the vast world of fashion, their conversation shifted into career guidance, unconventional paths and navigating design spaces often as the only person of color.
“It’s slowly changing,” Tazewell said of being one of the very first Black faces on the production side. “And this is part of being visible and receiving the Academy Award, the role that I play as a costume designer is achievable for many, many people and many, many people that look like me and I want to stand as an example of that.”
Tazewell returned to Ohio as part of the Thomas Schroth Visiting Artist Series.
He is the second notable designer who has visited the school of fashion and fed the hunger of curious design students, igniting their eagerness for a future in the fashion industry. (Jane Chu, who previously chaired the National Endowment for the Arts, also appeared this month.)
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have a group of mentors that did the same for me,” Tazewell said. “Now, I walk with the experience and with the age to be able to give back and inspire, and I hope that the next Paul Tazewell comes out of that.
“It would be absolutely beautiful.”