This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UC Berkeley chapter.
This week’s campus celebrity is someone who has made a big name for herself in the costume design industry, she is an icon unlike no other and yes, she attended UC Berkeley: Edith Head.
Edith Head is known as Hollywood’s Greatest Costume Designer to have ever lived. She holds the record for most Academy Awards in the category of costume design with 8 golden statues and 35 nominations.
Head was born and raised in the golden state of California and was able to get her first job as a costume sketch artist at Paramount Pictures without any training. In 1919, she received an arts degree with French honors from the University of California, Berkeley. She later attend Stanford and received a masters degree in Romance Language.
In 1938, Head became the head designer at Paramount Picture and was recognized as the “magician” of Hollywood glamour. She was friends with every top female star in Hollywood and was especially close with the one and only, Alfred Hitchcock.
Fun Fact: She was immortalized in Pixar’s The Incredibles, as the character Edna Mode.
In 1974, Head was honored with her own star on Hollywood Boulevard. Within the six successful decades of her career, Head worked on 1,131 films, wrote magazine and newspaper columns, and even toured the country staging Hollywood fashion shows. In 1981, Edith Head died of myeloid metaplasia, two weeks after completing work on her last film, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.
Extra Extra: Take a look a 30 Fantastic Movie Costumes by the one and only Edith Head- http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/10/30-fantastic-movie-costumes-by-edith-head.html
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