Obit of the Day

Obit of the Day: Academy Award-Winning Costume Designer

Eiko Ishioka may have had the most diverse resume of any costume designer in history. During a career of more than 40 years Ms. Ishioka designed outfits for films, Broadway, the Olympics, and Cirque du Soleil. She also directed music videos and album covers. Calling her a “costume designer” seems so limiting.

A graduate of the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, Ishioka won a Grammy in 1986 for her album cover design for Miles Davis’ Tutu. She earned greater acclaim for her costume design work on the Tony Award-winning musical M. Butterfly (1988), for which she received two nominations. Four years later she won an Oscar for her designs in Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula. She also directe the music video for Bjork’s “Cocoon.” Her full credits are available here.

Besides serving as director of costume design for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ms. Ishioka’s designs can be seen on Broadway currently in Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark and in March 2012 on screen in Mirror, Mirror. 

She was 73.  

(Image from 2008 Beijing Olympics is courtesy of theexaltation.com and copyright of the International Olympic Committee)