Filmmaker John Waters this week credited the work of costume designer Van Smith as “one of the main reasons my old films resonate today with young fashion rebels.”
Waters, 78, was at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles on Thursday to present the Costume Designers Guild’s prestigious Edith Head Hall of Fame Award posthumously to Smith, who died in 2006 at age 61.
One of several craft-specific ceremonies held during awards season in Hollywood, the 27th Annual Costume Designers Guild Awards recognizes the talent and artistry of costume designers in film, television, short-form projects and costume illustration.
The Edith Head Hall of Fame Award was one of the top honors of the night, along with Career Achievement and Distinguished Service, because it was given for a body of work rather than one project. Named after a legendary designer, the Hall of Fame award celebrates “visionary designers whose groundbreaking work has left an indelible mark on the art of costume design.”
Other presenters included Kate Beckinsale, Quinta Brunson, Colman Domingo and Mindy Kaling.
Walter Avant “Van” Smith was a costume designer and makeup artist who worked on all of Waters’ movies from 1972 to 2004 and was one of the Dreamlanders, Waters’ ensemble of regular cast and crew members. Born in Florida, he came to Baltimore to study at the Maryland Institute College of Art and started working with Waters on “Pink Flamingos” in the early 1970s. One of Smith’s best-known creations – a collaboration with Waters – is the red gown that Divine wore in “Pink Flamingos,” one of two Waters movies that are now part of the National Film Registry at the U. S. Library of Congress.
Other Waters films for which Smith served as the make-up and costume designer were: “Female Trouble” (1974); “Desperate Living” (1977); “Polyester” (1981); “Hairspray” (1988); “Cry-Baby” (1990); “Serial Mom” (1994); “Pecker” (1998); “Cecil B. Demented: (2000) and “A Dirty Shame” (2004). He had a brief part in “Pink Flamingos,” as a birthday party guest in drag, and roles in two episodes of “Homicide: Life on the Street,” the NBC series filmed in Baltimore and now viewable on Peacock.
“From the extreme outfits of the flamboyant criminals and hair dressers in “Female Trouble” (1974) to the grotesque citizens of Mortville in “Desperate Living” (1977), Smith contributed his extraordinary talent to 10 of Waters’ works, showcasing his versatility as he delivered both conventional and ironic looks in the later, more mainstream films like Cry Baby (1990) and Serial Mom (1994),” the Guild said in its announcement of Smith’s award.
Here’s what Waters said about Smith at the awards ceremony:
When [a representative] called to tell me that the Costume Designers Guild Awards wanted to honor Van Smith with the Edith Head Hall of Fame Award, I got weepy.
If Van were alive today to accept, he might bite the hand that feeds him a little — drink too much, smoke cigarettes no matter what the rules. But you would still like him. He may have been an ‘ornery goat boy’ as we called him. But he knew as much about costume as anybody in this room.
His first original costume was the still-famous red fishtail gown Divine wore in “Pink Flamingos.” Balenciaga referenced it just last year. Then Isabelle Huppert wore that outfit to the Met Gala. It was even on the cover of Vanity Fair. And I’m not imagining it: The new TV ad even had the “Pink Flamingos” theme song playing in the background.
And then right after I finished my last film, he dropped dead of a heart attack. The world finally noticed. Great obit in Women’s Wear Daily. The New York Times said he set ‘new standards for drag that would endure long after his death,’ after I told them he understood the look of “inner rot” I required in my films.
I called him my ‘ugly expert,’ but he invented a new kind of radical beauty. His costume work is one of the main reasons my old films resonate today with young fashion rebels, and I am so glad you chose to honor him today.
Costume designers: The next time a star gives you grief about your vision of what their outfit should look like in a film, just snarl to them what Van always did: ‘Shut up! You’re wearing it!’
