Be able to take any job that gives you experience on a film. Don't just think that you have to be in one department or the other, because through working on one and seeing what other people do in the movie makes you realize what your role is if you become a costume designer.

If you want someone to feel warm, you dress them in a warm color and put a warm light on them and you get the picture. Sometimes, all that needs pushing a little bit to help tell the story.

The whole switch from film to digital has changed some of the ways I use color and the juxtaposition of light and dark. It's getting better with digital, the separation's gotten better, but I still feel like it's really flatter than film, so I do a lot of screening and subtle textural printing and painting on clothes for film to get it not to look flat.

Inspiration comes from everywhere: books, art, people on the street. It is an interior process for me.

In real life, a lot of people at that level will have their kimonos made especially for them.

Every story is different, so what is a detail in one might not be in something else. Diversity is something I embrace and love about my work.

As a designer, you have to solve a lot of problems. Even though people are wearing clothes that are supposed to look beautiful, they'll have to do all kinds of things.