The Victorian gothic look from Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Director Tim Burton and his long-time onscreen muse Johnny Depp are famous for their offbeat and eccentric collaborations. Throughout their six movie union, from Edward Scissorhands to Sleepy Hollow, they have mastered the creation of outlandish characters and macabre fairytale worlds and often with the help of Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood. Once again invited into the Burton/ Depp world for 2007’s big screen adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Atwood had to craft a look for the popular Stephen Sondheim musical.

Nominated at the 2008 Academy Awards for her contribution to costumery (she lost out to Elizabeth: The Golden Age’s Alexandra Bryne), Atwood described her creative process behind formulating the movie’s dramatic look. “I was inspired by Sweeney – where he had been and what he had been through. He lost his wife, his child and he was broken,” said Atwood. With Depp cast in the central role of a man who on his return to London after being wrongfully exiled, reinvents himself as the murderous barber, Atwood was inspired further: “In my first sitting with Johnny, I heard him sing and it was moving. It was sort of organic and he gave me a lot to work with. As I [designed] for each character, I was more inspired by who was cast in the roles.”