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 Vinilla
is one of Hammersmith & Fulham’s most creative residents.
She’s a costume designer and creator of creatures and she
has an impressive and varied list of credits stretching from the
Batsuit in Tim Burton’s Batman films to the creation of children’s
TV characters the Boohbahs.
Originally from Sussex, Vinilla, or Vin for short, settled in Olympia
when she began working as a freelance costume designer. The daughter
of actor parents, Vin seemed destined for the world of stage and
screen. Born Vivien, she was renamed Vinilla by her friend Justin
de Villeneuve who gave the world ‘Twiggy’.
Flying by the seat of your pants
So what’s the best part of your job? “The research,
getting the ideas, the bit before reality kicks in like budgets,
schedules and lack of casting!” To emphasise the reality
point Vin has recently been to Romania to dress Little Britain’s
Matt Lucas as Toad for a new BBC Wind in the Willows adaptation.
A scene called for Toad to be dragged along behind a horse on
his backside. Vin made sure the director got the message that
the outrageous jodhpurs worn by Toad were not replaceable due
to the tight budget. “In a perfect world you would have
extra sets of costumes but reality means you have to cut your
coat according to your cloth.”
And what are you most proud of? “Aslan the Lion (from the
BBC’s ‘Chronicles of Narnia’)…I always
thought he looked more like a Golden Retriever and consequently
felt like the family pet.” A view echoed by children who
wrote fan letters to Aslan which the BBC kindly passed on to his
creator.
Like a sponge
Vin’s apprenticeship began in the costume and props department
at the Royal Opera House and she has risen from making and mending
to designing costumes and creatures. “I’m like a sponge.
I soak up everything in the business and when I was asked to sculpt
a Bat cowl for the Batman film, working with Bob Ringwood, I enjoyed
it so much I did the whole costume.” She does admit to some
sticky moments like fitting Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman
costume – “why would you want to cover such a beautiful
face with a mask? The challenge was to get the fit exactly right
so that it did not pinch her skin.”
Vin now leads a team through major productions as well as pursuing
solo projects. She has designed and created for a host of films
including the Fifth Element and Lost in Space, as well as TV series
and commercials and has worked with cartoonist Gerald Scarfe on
exhibitions.
 A
new adventure
The Little Costume Shop is Vin’s latest venture. It is
a collection of quarter scale costume maquettes which Vin describes
as ‘costume jewellery for the home’ and will be launched
early next year. “I can do exactly what I want with colour
and materials, and am using my collection of vintage fabrics,
silks and sequins from as far back as the 1920s.”
So, with such a varied career, what are the different creative
challenges of designing for a period piece as against a fantasy
or science fiction film? “Well a period piece can be researched
whereas science fiction can’t in the same way. What ever
the period or the subject, there is always a new language to write.
I am more often hired to create things to be invented, which I
love.”
There seems to be no end to the projects on the go or on the
drawing board. Vin has also completed a job as costume design
consultant on a new pre-school series ‘In the Night Garden’
“I can’t reveal anything about it as it is still under
wraps– but it will be a good one!” She also has projects
in development with the producers of Big Cook Little Cook and
has just designed a super-hero costume for a new government anti-binge
drinking ‘ad’.
All in all if you had to design a costume for Vin it would have
to be extraordinaire. The new feature-length Wind in the Willows
will be broadcast by the BBC on Boxing Day starring Matt Lucas,
Bob Hoskins, Imelda Staunton and Mark Gatiss. You can find out
more about the work of Vin Burnham by visiting www.vin-burnham.com
or her new venture www.thelittlecostumeshop.com
Vin’s favourite borough places are:
St Peter’s Square and walking along the Hammersmith/Chiswick
Mall; and for lunch the Anglesea Arms pub, Wingate Road, W6.
by Louise Raisey
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