These are among the reasons that we love The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which was recently nominated for 12 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Period Costumes for Zakowksa and her team. All told, the beautiful period Prime Video series that transports us back into the late 1950s and 1960s has won 81 awards, including 20 Emmys. A true artist, visionary and self-proclaimed perfectionist, who began her life as a painter, Zakowska has designed costumes for film, television, theater, circus, opera, music and puppet theater—and even Mick Jagger’s concert tour! Her Emmy Awards are for the HBO John Adams miniseries in 2009 and for Mrs. Maisel for Outstanding Period Costumes in 2019. Over the five seasons of Maisel, Zakowska says she used a variety of sources for inspiration, including period photographs, European fashion trends, and postwar New York City’s many different cultures. In addition to the wondrous series, Zakowska is celebrating The Costumes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, her 300-page book that is filled with personal photographs and sketches and a touching afterword from Rachel Brosnahan, who stepped out of her comfort zone to play the leading character of Miriam “Midge” Maisel and became America’s comic darling. The show follows Mrs. Maisel, whose idyllic life as a wife and mother is upended in the pilot by her husband Joel’s (Michael Zegan) infidelity. But instead of running back to him or doubting her inner strength, she forges a new life and becomes a stand-up comic in a man’s world, fulfilling Joel’s big dream. Along the way, her parents, Abe and Rose Weissman (Tony Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle) and Joel’s parents Moishe and Shirley (Kevin Pollack and Caroline Aaron), along with their quirky friends and associates, take us on a wondrous ride filled with laughter, bittersweet moments, setbacks, and triumphs. “There’s something about in the first episode when I had designed this pink coat and I saw Rachel as Midge walking down the street in the West Village after she was deciding to get over the whole Joel thing,” Zakowska exclusively tells Parade.com. “The way she was moving down the street, it suddenly felt a little bit bigger than life to me. It became a bit heroic.” That’s where that idea of how clothing can transform us and our demeanor came to this unique artist. “At that moment when I saw her walking down the street I thought, well, that is practically like a cape. She is flying down the street,” Zakowska continues. “You have these thoughts and then they sort of blossom a little bit into the way that you approach the clothes and the way you approach the characters.” Read on for more of how this artist collaborated with the cast, crew, and creators to dream up a beautiful and memorable show that keeps us clamoring for more.
How do you feel about your recent Emmy nomination?
Donna Zakowska: The excitement of having an Emmy nomination in our fourth year, a pandemic year of the show, on top of it is beyond words. It is recognition of not only my work but the assistants, builders, and shops that worked very hard in a tenuous and fragile period to create this season and a heavy dose of resilience and commitment on their part.
This is such a beautiful show in which the clothes and accessories are like another main character. When you hear all of this praise what does that mean to you as someone who’s created all of these looks?
I think what is good about it is in a way it is period-accurate, but it also has a little bit of magical realism. I think that allows the work to sort of transport people. I think it is about seducing them into that moment, exciting them and stimulating them. What I feel good about is that it doesn’t feel like a dry period piece where this isn’t of the moment. It seems to excite people. That’s what I’m really happy about in terms of the way it’s turned out and the way people have responded to the clothes.
Your leading lady, Rachel Brosnahan, has said that on the last day of filming she wants to back up a U-Haul truck to the set and take home every piece of every hat, every shoe, every glove, and piece of clothing. How do you respond to that?
Personally, I only want to keep two hats or one or two other things because I just don’t collect a lot. But I always feel that the clothes are made for a specific person, a specific body. You would hate the idea that you would ever see those clothes on another actress, especially key pieces. The small things are not as big a deal. You really want to sort of in a way preserve the identity of the clothing and the identity of the clothing is very much connected to the performer. In Rachel’s case, everything was so custom-made and so perfectly made for her that I would always be in favor of that. Prime Video
How did this lovely book The Costumes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel come about?
Well, I’ve had a series of people come to the studio and interview me. I think it goes back to the beginning of Season 2. One of those people maybe about a year later wrote to me on Instagram. She was working at Abrams Publishing and she said, “Would you be interested in doing a book?” I said, “yes, absolutely.” I had never thought about doing it but it seemed like a great idea. Then right before the pandemic hit we had one meeting where I had signed the contract and everything was set. Then suddenly I had the time to actually do it. It really became a big activity of mine during the pandemic. Because it was always sort of virtual and we never really had a lot of meetings; a lot of it I had to learn myself. I worked with my partner, Roman Paska, on it and we had to learn how to put this book together in terms of the styling of the graphics, the pages, and dealing with China with the color choices. I really got very involved in how to create a book. Now I feel ready to do another one, but I no longer have the time.
What were you aiming for?
We wanted the book to represent the process, and for people to see things that they didn’t necessarily see on the internet. You might have seen this or that photo but not to the degree. It was about the photos I had personally taken or sketches that would not otherwise be available to people. That became an important part of it for me.
How do you feel about the end result of the book?
I think what I’m most happy about is that it’s very personal. It is a book about my process. The sketches are, as you can tell, very personal. Rather than just becoming a book about a show it became a book about my personal journey, the costume journey, and the things that were important to me in a way in the process. Or creating things that really were part of my whole zeitgeist of creating The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Other books about shows are a little more carbon copy because they picture everything. This became much more about very specific choices. I felt pretty happy that I came close to what I wanted to do. That’s all you can ever hope for. Prime Video
Tell me in a nutshell what it’s like working with Amy Sherman-Palladino.
Amy is great because she really gives me a tremendous amount of artistic freedom. I think that comes from a particular trust that she has. From the beginning we had a very similar viewpoint and a similar way of seeing this whole world of New York, witnessing this period, and seeing these characters. Also, we share a dance background. I think we’re both very movement-centric. I added to that my color-centric interest. It’s been very positive and very rare that you have that type of collaboration where you feel like you are at one with your collaborators. Very rarely do we ever say maybe it should be this or that. It seems like 90% to 95% of the time my thoughts about what the clothes should be are very much what she feels and embraces. If Amy hasn’t felt that exactly she still feels very comfortable with the interpretation. That is what makes a job very pleasant and I will never say easy because there’s nothing easy about designing Mrs. Maisel, but in a way, you always feel inspired about working. You never feel like, “wow, can I convince them that this is the way to go or not go.” It’s a sort of inspiring experience to work with collaborators that are as positive as you are, as energetic, and really are trying to do something that is special.
Please talk about the other locations you visited outside of New York. You had these gorgeous costumes in Paris, the Catskills, Miami and Las Vegas. Was one location more vibrant and amazing than the others?
Well, I loved being in Paris. I went to school in Paris and went to the Beausejour for years. Paris for me is always like a second home, so being there doing the show was a little bit like a dream. I kept saying, “Can’t we go to Paris?” Then one day I got a call, “You know what? We’re going to Paris.” I thought, “Wow, that was really manifesting it.” The Catskills were hard because it was physically hard to be up there. But it was really a lot of fun in a way to be able to capture that whole world which doesn’t exist any longer but had its own merits. We were all up there staying in the motels so that was pretty intense but also a lot of fun. Other than our base in New York, the Catskills and Paris were the two things that really were the most fun to do.
What’s it like to know that Midge’s original coat is in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History with Dorothy’s ruby slippers and Superman’s cape?
It was pretty exciting. When it first happened, they just said, “You’ve created an iconic character here that is part of the American dialogue of entertainment.” I was like, “Oh, this is great.” But then when I got there they take you on a little tour through and they’re opening up these drawers with the Lone Ranger’s mask and Muhammad Ali’s shorts and all of these other memorable things. You’re suddenly like, “Wow, this is big. This is really big.” Prime Video It’s definitely exciting and wonderful to feel like you are a part of American entertainment history. It didn’t really sink in until I got there then I suddenly realized the magnitude of it. Even when I think about it now, it’s still exciting to me. It is about having longevity and a legacy of the clothes and the characters that in a way is hard to duplicate anywhere else.
Let’s talk about the color pink. How is this color integral to Midge’s character?
Well, in a funny way I think pink has become extremely popular since Mrs. Maisel. All over the world, it’s sort of like a crazy trend. I always joked because pink was never my favorite color in the world—I was never like someone who loved pink. But there’s something about the color when I first started doing Mrs. Maisel, and I talk about this a lot in the book, how no other color came into my mind. It was somehow that sense of that rosy world in which this character existed. There’s such a really certain type of energy that comes with pink that I felt really epitomized Midge for me. Once I used it, I would say that it became, as I write in the book, a reference point for me. It referred to her state of mind, it referred to her home life, it referred to in a way her dreams and aspirations. It began for me, which was a lot of color-coding in terms of the whole series. The way I used green or white or certain things, it just really went beyond the color. It was more about an energy, a mentality, a sort of representation of the inner life of the character in a way.
In the afterward of your book, Rachel calls you “bold, brilliant and always demanding excellence.” What’s your reaction to that?
Well, I could never say that I don’t demand perfection. You don’t always achieve it, but you certainly try for it. It’s a little bit of madness. I wouldn’t be surprised if she called me The Mad Hatter. It’s like this sort of engine that starts up and once it starts up you really keep revving it. That is definitely who I am, there’s no question about it. It always—you don’t always achieve it but if you don’t try for something as perfect as you possibly can get it or as wonderful, beautiful, whatever word you want to use, that’s your journey as a designer. That’s also your journey in every aspect of your life. That’s what makes it worthwhile and that’s why the experience becomes an important experience in your life. Prime Video
What message do you want to give viewers who deeply love your show and your work?
Well, I want to thank them for watching the show. But, also, I hope that they sort of understand and appreciate the fact that we were always very interested in communicating a really heightened, creative experience and that all of us worked tremendously hard day and night on trying to make this show as special as we possibly could. I guess for me it would be nice to know that they felt that way about it and had experienced that. Ultimately, it was one major manifestation of a lot of very heightened, creative energy and a lot of people who truly care about the product working together. I think if they’re sensitive to that I would feel that we had accomplished something very special.
I assume that if Amy calls you when Mrs. Maisel has ended to talk about a new movie or series that you would be on board?
Yes, without question, because I really value this type of collaboration. I’ve been doing it for enough time to know that being in sync with the person who is creating the series, writing the series, and often directing it is very, very rare. I think you sort of learning that when you have this great chemistry. You really value it and it really becomes a precious thing to you. I absolutely would love to work with Amy on another project. Seasons 1-4 of Mrs. Maisel are available for streaming on Prime Video, while the final season, Season 5, is currently in production. The 74th Primetime Emmys will air at 8 p.m. ET on NBC on Monday, September 12. Next, check out the 15 best comedies on Prime Video right now.
