Luis Sequeira (‘Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities’ costume designer): ‘My jaw had dropped to the ground’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

“I’m a believer of having costumes enhance the story rather than detract,” reveals costume designer Luis Sequeira about “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities” in our recent webchat. He adds, “Each story takes you on a journey, brings you back and haunts you.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

The Netflix anthology series comprises eight episodes, each telling a different horror story. The collection of stories were curated by del Toro, with two being works he had written. The Oscar-winning filmmaker of “The Shape of Water” (2017) also handpicked the eight directors for the series. All the stories are dark and touch on various moral themes. Sequeira explains, “it was tricky. We had different color palettes and different time periods. It was like being air traffic controllers. We’d have 1950’s coming in and 1930’s going out. It was coordination of epic proportions.”

He designed costumes for all eight episodes and is submitting the sixth installment, ‘Dreams in the Witch House,’ for Emmy consideration. It tells the tale of a brother trying to connect with his twin sister who mysteriously died when they were children. In his efforts, he is confronted by executed witch Keziah Mason. Sequeira says, “The costume was pretty remarkable. It was understood that we were doing a bonnet and apron, the rest would be CG. In a meeting we learnt it was all going to be costume. We had masks on, so luckily no one could see my jaw had dropped to the ground. We had to dream up this costume, from recreating branches, twigs and bark. It also had technicalities. That costume had to be able to rise for locations with tricky terrain and drop down for the master shot, and then coming down the stairs half of the dress would come off.”

It’s not the designer’s first time working with del Toro. He received Oscar costume nominations for “Shape of Water” and “Nightmare Alley” (2021). For the former, he won a Costume Designer Guild Award. Sequeira reflects, “Guillermo is a visionary in creating worlds and inspiring all the creatives to hone in what we bring to the table. You can see in every project he brings us together on, there’s a true cohesiveness. It brings warm feelings to one’s soul. It’s a tough industry with difficult hours and challenges. With Guillermo it seems worth it.”

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