Bob Dylan has always known how to make a fashion statement—and in James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown,” Timothée Chalamet captures this quality with uncanny precision. With the help of Oscar-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips, the actor easily slips into the folk singer’s aesthetic, whether he’s wearing a Woody Guthrie–inspired baker boy cap or a vibrant orange shirt at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.
To research the film, Phillips traced how Dylan’s style evolved alongside the cultural shifts of the early 1960s, ultimately creating 67 pieces for Chalamet’s wardrobe.
“Dylan was at the center of this youth movement; so within each era, we would rework pieces,” she explains.
The project marks her fourth collaboration with Mangold, which includes the writer-director’s 2005 Johnny Cash drama “Walk the Line.” For “A Complete Unknown,” she built on her experience creating costumes for musical biopics, Broadway shows, and the world tours of superstars like Madonna and Lenny Kravitz.
Here, the designer talks about working with Chalamet and balancing storytelling with performers’ needs.
How did you bring your experience on movies like “Walk the Line” into the world of Dylan?
I’ve learned how important it is to design for musicians and people who sing on the practical level, and how to help support the actor by understanding what kind of movement they need. Every performer is different.
Take Joan Baez [played by Monica Barbaro]: We learned that she liked to sing barefoot. My job as a costume designer is to inform the story and express the character and the context to the audience. But also, there’s a physical manifestation and embodiment of the costume for the actor, especially if they’re singing and playing instruments.
In this movie, all the principal actors learned instruments and were singing for the first time on film. Having a guitar in the fitting room for Timmy was essential—something we also did with Joaquin Phoenix during “Walk the Line”—to understand the movement, how it would look, and the balance.
“A Complete Unknown” takes place between 1961 and 1965. How did you home in on this early part of Dylan’s journey?
It is astonishing what he accomplished in those four years. We were able to visually express that evolution starting with his dress in ’61. When you see him in 1963 and 1964, he’s becoming more himself, wearing the suede jackets and the slimmer jeans.
Then in ’65, there’s this massive change when he’s gone to England and he’s met the Beatles and hung out with the Kinks; and he clearly adopted that mod look. At Newport in ’65, he’s visibly so different from the solo folk singer [we first met] who wore those warm tones, suede jacket, jeans, and cowboy boots. You see him in this black leather jacket and orange shirt. In terms of Bob Dylan, there was so much story to tell.
What was it like to build this character with Timothée?
We would often have daily discussions about what he was wearing that day; it was always something that we had pre-fit. We did many, many fittings. He was very engaged, very focused, and a dream to work with. When you’re working with an actor for the first time, you hope there’s an energy match in terms of their commitment, openness, and curiosity. Ultimately, we are expressing our director’s vision in collaboration. Being aligned in that way is everything. Timmy is at the top of that list; he’s incredible to work with and to watch work.
The clothes look very lived-in, especially in early scenes. What challenges come with that part of the process?
I had a great team of textile artists and ager-dyers. That is always the biggest challenge on any film because you can’t age and break down a costume until you’re done with all the alterations. We make doubles of certain things; whenever Dylan is on a motorcycle or playing live, I always have doubles. You can’t age one thing without having both at the same time so that they match.
If we were shooting during the day, the artists would be working at night; and if we were shooting at night, they’d be working during the day to get it done in time. In general, costumes tend to look better on film. You don’t see all the imperfections. We want everyone to look good, but we need the clothes to look lived-in. So that was a behemoth effort.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
This story originally appeared in the Feb. 20 issue of Backstage Magazine.