Written by | Ray Cornelius
Atlanta’s Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) teamed up with Hulu Monday night for a special advanced screening of their hit series The Handmaid’s Tale. The viewing was in honor of SCAD FASH new costume exhibition of the series and features more than 40 garments created by the show’s award-winning costume designer—Ane Crabtree.
The evening began with a pre-show reception at SCAD FASH where attendees were able to check out the exhibition featuring Crabtree’s creations. Following that was the screening of episode three from season 2 at the SCAD Show. That was followed by a Q&A session hosted by Eric Wilson of InStyle Magazine. It was during this discussion that Crabtree talked candidly about designing the looks for the characters and how she drew inspiration from her life as child of color growing up in rural Kentucky.
“What I think we do artists in life is we take all that strangeness and macabreness and make it funny. So when I was thinking of The Handmaid’s Tale, I thought nothing should be absolutely beautiful and everything should be slightly full of tension. Everyone says it’s not full of tension, it’s just damn ugly,” said Crabtree.
In addition to her, attendees also got to meet some of the show’s cast members: Ever Carradine, Robert Curtis Brown, Amanda Brugel, Nina Kiri and Stephen Kunken. Actress Madeline Brewer recalled a conversation she had with Crabtree about the garments and how she used it to contextualize her character, Janine.
“So much of the exploration of Janine as a character came from talking to Ane in Pine Mountain, Georgia, where I was shooting a film. She came down to me and I just remember our conversation helped spark so much of Janine for me and my understanding of the clothing. Being inside of Ane’s mind frame for a brief moment just plucks you into the world of Gilead. She’s so in touch with it,” said Brewer.
The Handmaid’s Tale follows the story of a dystopian future that forces women into subservient roles after an uprising against the US government. The show is an adaptation of Margaret Atwood‘s 1985 novel of the same title, which won the 1985 Governor General’s Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987. The series also stars Elisabeth Moss, Joseph Fiennes, Yvonne Strahovski, Alexis Bledel and Samira Wiley.
Check out more photos from the screening below:
The SCAD FASH Exhibition of The Handmaid’s Tale is open now through August 12.
Photo Credits: RayCornelius.com
