Meet Susan Matheson: The Costume Designer Behind Hollywood's Most Notable Films
Welcome to Second Life, a podcast spotlighting successful women who’ve made major career changes—and fearlessly mastered the pivot. Hosted by Hillary Kerr, co-founder and chief content officer at Who What Wear, each episode gives you a direct line to women who are game changers in their fields. Subscribe to Second Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts to stay tuned.
If you’re like us and obsessed with the cool-girl ’90s fashion from Kate Bosworth in the hit film Blue Crush, then you’ll be pleased to learn that the creative genius behind those costumes is Suan Matheson. Matheson is responsible for costuming some of our favorite blockbuster movies over the years. From Step Brothers and The Town to The Big Short and Friday Night Lights, Matheson has been leading teams in creating sartorial worlds for over two decades.
Her latest project is the highly anticipated Netflix film Don’t Look Up (debuting on December 24), in which Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence play two low-level astronomers that embark on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet Earth. This Netflix project has become one of the buzziest to date.
Because Matheson has established her own unique voice within the industry throughout her career, it comes as no surprise that before she took off, she won the extremely prestigious award of Design of the Year at Parsons School of Design—one of the top design schools in the world. But back before her foray into film, Matheson actually started her career working for Mattel, where she designed patterns for a very different, very specific clientele: Barbie. Listen to the latest episode of Second Life to hear about the major catalyst that propelled Matheson from a career path she loved into a career path she was destined to pursue.
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