Trish Summerville on Creating Characters and Key Wardrobe Pieces for Catching Fire

Trish Summerville poses with the Net-A-Porter Mockingjay dress and costume designer Michael Wilkinson (American Hustle). Photo by Joe Pugliese

Costume designer Trish Summerville revealed some of the inspiration behind the looks she created for Catching Fire in a recent THR.com article.

Trish Summerville and one of President Snow's suits. Photo by Joe PuglieseSummerville jumped from styling music stars (Pink, No Doubt) to big-budget movies in 2011, when she nailed the punky garb for David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, for which she won a Costume Designers Guild Award. Now she's gone futuristic for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, with jaw-dropping ball gowns for Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), Cerre leather moto jackets for Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and hyper-designed Alexander McQueen dresses (including one with trembling butterflies) for Effie Trinket (Elizabeth Banks). The biggest challenge? Outfitting the Games contestants, who all are in unitard-like sweatsuits that had to fit 24 different body types ranging from age 19 to 79. Says Summerville, "The shoes also had to be things they could swim in and run on lava rock."

Katniss' Wedding Gown in 'Catching Fire' - Designed By Iris van Herpen?

The Hollywood Reporter says avant-garde Dutch designer Iris van Herpen may be the woman behind one of the most anticipated costumes in 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' - Katniss' transforming wedding gown. 

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Though costume designer Trish Summerville is head costume designer, THR reports that an inside source on the movie says van Herpen is indeed working on ONE costume for the film, but wouldn't confirm which one. Van Herpen, who counts Lady Gaga and Bjork among her fans, uses innovative technology combined with Haute Couture handiwork to create some of the most mind-blowing designs you'll ever see. Time Magazine named van Herpen's 3D printed dress one of it's 50 best inventions of 2011. 

Yep, she's got this.

If van Herpen IS the woman behind the dress, she should have no trouble creating the wedding gown/flaming mockingjay of our dreams. Read more at The Hollywood Reporter. 

Update on 2013-01-24 19:07 by Dan McCall

RUMOR UPDATE: Fashionista is reporting that Iris van Herpen is NOT designing a costume for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Fashionista.com says they reached out to Iris van Herpen's PR team and that they confirmed the designer is not working on the film or with any of the actresses. So the designer who was rumored to be working on a costume which may or may not have been the wedding/mockingjay dress is now NOT working on the rumored costume. Confused? We are! Either way, this is excellent PR for the little-known Herpen. And as we all know, plenty of Hunger Games rumors have been flatly denied only to be confirmed later on. (See Sam Claflin as Finnick)