Donna Zakowska

Donna Zakowska (born 1954) is an American costume designer. According to AMC, "Donna Zakowska has designed for film, theatre, circus, opera, music and puppet theatre, including nine seasons for the Big Apple Circus and a concert tour for Mick Jagger."^[1] Her costume designs for the John Adams (miniseries) won an Emmy Award in 2009. Zakowska's costumes for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel won an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Period Costumes" in 2019.

Life and early career

Donna Zakowska was born in Brooklyn in 1954. She attended Barnard College, the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and the Yale School of Drama.^[2]

During her early career, according to Zakowska, "I began designing the Big Apple Circus and working as an assistant on Woody Allen films."^[2]

Period costume, 18th century

Zakowska was head costume designer for HBO miniseries John Adams (2008). For her work on the series, she received an award from the Costume Designers Guild in 2008 and an Emmy in 2009.^[1]

Zakowska later became head costume designer for the AMC drama Turn: Washington's Spies, also set in the 18th century, which aired on AMC for four seasons, from April 2014 to August, 2017.^[3][4][5]

The Marvelous Mrs Maisel

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is set in New York City in 1958.^[6] Zakowska describes her decision to work with series director Amy Sherman-Palladino as "instant chemistry. I’m a New Yorker and I loved the idea of working on a series about New York in the 50s. I've done eighteenth-century clothes, and earlier periods, but we have such clichés in our minds of what that period [the 1950s] looks like. It was a challenge to make this clothing interesting and exciting to people."^[7] Zakowska has cited multiple inspirations for the show's costumes, including period photographs, European fashion trends, and postwar New York City's many different cultures. Asked about her favorite costumes for the series, she mentioned the challenge of creating B. Altman costumes as "working dresses that still had the charm of the character."^[8]

Two costumes created by Zakowska for the show's first season are now in the collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.^[9][10]

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

• Won: Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, John Adams (2008)^[11]
• Nominated: Outstanding Period Costumes, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2018)^[12]
• Won: Outstanding Period Costumes, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2019)^[12]
• Nominated: Outstanding Period Costumes, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2020)^[12]

Costume Designers Guild Awards

• Won: Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Miniseries, John Adams (2008)^[13]
• Nominated: Excellence in Period Television, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2018)^[14]
• Won: Excellence in Period Television, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2019)^[15]
• Won: Excellence in Period Television, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2020)^[16]

References

1. "Donna Zakowska – Costume Designer". AMC. Retrieved July 20, 2018. Donna Zakowska has designed for film, theatre, circus, opera, music and puppet theatre, including nine seasons for the Big Apple Circus and a concert tour for Mick Jagger.
2. Hambro, Tatiana (2018). "Career Files: Costume Design". Moda Operandi. Retrieved July 20, 2018. EDUCATION: Barnard College, École des Beaux-Arts (Paris), Yale Drama School. RESUME: (Recent) The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017), TURN (2014-15), God's Pocket (2014), Fading Gigolo (2013), The Iceman (2012), John Adams (2008)
3. Rao, Priya (April 25, 2014). "Can Revolutionary Fashion Be Sexy? Yes, says Turn Costume Designer Donna Zakowska". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 19, 2018. The credit goes to costume designer Donna Zakowska, who already has an Emmy for her work on a miniseries set in the era, HBO's John Adams. "If you look at fashion today—Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Yohji Yamamoto—they often draw upon this period in a contemporary way," says Zakowska. "There is a lack of structure like there is in clothing today, which allows there to be a fluidity between the feminine and the masculine."
4. Stuever, Hank (April 1, 2018). "On the set of AMC's new drama 'Turn,' an updated sense and style of patriotism". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 18, 2018. "Turn," Zakowska says, required her to think beyond the military uniforms and the more official garb we associate with the Founding Fathers. "You have the historical [drawings and paintings] and then to a certain degree, you have to use your instinct," she says.^{[dead link]}
5. Stuever, Hank (June 12, 2014). . The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 21, 2017. Retrieved July 18, 2018. When I visited the set of "Turn" back in January, my most fascinating chat was with Donna Zakowska, the show's hardworking costume designer. (She won an Emmy for her work on HBO's "John Adams.") If you saw her office there, you would see how much historical research goes into the costumes.
6. Lenker, Maureen Lee (December 4, 2017). "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel costume designer takes us inside the marvelous looks". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 18, 2018. In recreating New York in 1958, from the couture looks of the Upper West Side to the beatnik styles of the West Village, costumer Zakowska creates a rich tapestry of color and silhouettes with a keen eye for detail. Zakowska talked to EW about her design process and broke down the inspiration behind many of the show's iconic, period-appropriate looks that leave us with serious sartorial envy.
7. Kealey, Helena (January 31, 2018). "Sartorial secrets from The Marvelous Mrs Maisel: interview with Donna Zakowska". Culture Whisper. Retrieved July 20, 2018. The head of costume design, Donna Zakowska, previously won an Emmy and Costume Designers Guild Award for the 2008 miniseries John Adams, and yet one gets the feeling that The Marvelous Mrs Maisel will be her crowning accomplishment.
8. Grobar, Matt (August 14, 2018). "'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Costume Designer On Series' "Beautiful Color Compositions" & Midge's Season 1 Arc". Deadline. Retrieved October 22, 2018. I love all of those B. Altman dresses. I think that was a tricky thing, to try to create working dresses that still had the charm of the character. I always like when there's a little bit of duality in the garment, so those were for me very interesting to do.
9. Lunden, Jeff (January 28, 2020). "Meet The Designer Who Makes 'Mrs. Maisel' Look So Marvelous". NPR. Retrieved June 26, 2020. Zakowska's costumes have become so iconic that two of them have made it into the collection at Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. There's the baby blue nightgown and pink coat Midge wears when she first improvises her stand-up, and a little black dress with ribbons on the straps that she wears when she becomes a professional — just like a real pioneering female comic.
10. Wu, Katherine J (December 17, 2019). "Two Dresses From 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel' Are Coming to the Smithsonian". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved June 26, 2020. Though display plans have yet to be finalized, the dresses—which feature prominently in the season's premiere and finale—may be included in the museum's upcoming 2021 exhibition, "Entertaining America," according to NMAH curator Ryan Lintelman.
11. "Awards and nominations". Emmys. Retrieved October 22, 2018. Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special - 2008 Winner John Adams...Donna Zakowska, Costume Designer
12. "Donna Zakowska: Awards and nominations". Emmys. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
13. "11th Annual Awards 2009". Costume Designers Guild. Retrieved October 23, 2018. Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Miniseries: "John Adams" – Donna Zakowska
14. 2018 nominees
15. 2019 winners
16. 2020 winners