For the award-winner, clothing design never crossed her mind growing up. “It’s quite a surprise that that’s what I’m doing all these years later,” she says.
But one does not simply fall into a life that may one minute require trekking through “muddy, horrible snowy locations” on an action blockbuster, to the next sewing sequins under the big top for Cirque du Soleil. It takes a certain type of adventurous spirit to succeed in this line of work — one that Kym accredits in part to being Aussie.
“I think it’s kind of a national characteristic,” Kym, who is now based in the USA, says of her wandering feet and ability to navigate through any cultural or intrepid climate.
For Kym, a childhood spent combing deserted beaches and reading crate-loads of books on Christmas Island, where she lived before attending boarding school in Australia, also encouraged her creative instincts.
On the Indian Ocean archipelago, isolation bred imagination. Watching weekly Westerns and subtitled Chinese dramas in an outdoor theatre were among the few entertaining respites for a child stranded in a small settlement with no TV and where planes only landed once a week.
In young Kim’s mind, these childhood activities seeded the inspiration for the iconic costumes she would go on to create, such as Keanu Reeves’ sinuous black trench in the Matrix films and Claire Danes’ angel wings in Baz Luhrmann’s modern-day adaption of Romeo + Juliet.
But creativity also needs incubation. And it was at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney in the early ‘90s, that Kym was schooled in the fine art of costume design, along with other aspects of theatre and film production such as lighting and staging.
At NIDA, Kym also found a “tight knit” crew of college mates, which included acclaimed costume and set designers Catherine Martin (Luhrmann’s wife) and Angus Strathie. All three collaborated on a number of films early in their careers, and are now among a group of familiar Aussie faces in behind-the-scenes Hollywood.
Kim’s style
Dozens of theatre productions, commercials and films later, Kym is now somewhat allergic to the idea of shopping on her days off. At home in Los Angeles, with her children, aged 12 and 13, and husband, who also works in art and design, Kym prefers to kick back with a book or magazine and forget about clothes.
She dresses herself in mostly navy, charcoal and black, which spotlights her shock of platinum blonde hair and defining rectangular eyeglasses. On the rare days she does shop, she’ll head straight to flea markets or thrift stores to look for “clothes that speak to you, have a little story or a spell, or a feeling about them,” she says.
Storytelling is the underlying drive of Kym’s work. She describes her current job on set of Cirque du Soleil’s production, Totem, as “creating worlds and landscapes of people” — exotic, intoxicating scenes in which Amazonian lizards, cosmonauts and a Crystal Man balance and leap lithely under hand-sewn second skins.
“You’ve got these really beautiful bodies of these incredible athletes, so my job is to show them in the best possible light, while also telling the story,” she says.
Read more
Cirque du Soleil: Inside the most spectacular show on Earth
Having run the costume departments for numerous action and superhero films, including Speed Racer, The Green Hornet and the The Amazing Spiderman, Kym is well versed in accommodating technical aspects of production, such as the actors’ body movements and safety.
Elements which are potentially limiting to her artistic vision, like having to adhere to historical accuracy and an audience’s pre-conceived notions of certain beloved characters are also part of the job, she says.
She takes it in her stride, with the word “collaboration” popping up often as she discusses her career. Kym also defers praise to the casts and crews she works with, saying, “I think [the audience] remembers the clothes because of the characters,” not the other way around.
Having split her time between the States and Europe for many years, Kym is looking forward to running back home with the circus for a while. She’ll return to Australia this month with Cirque, but knows her willful imagination will soon take her off again to the set of some exotic locale or fantastical adventure.
“It’s about not being afraid to connect with people around you,” she says. “Always, one thing leads to another.”
Cirque du Soleil’s Totem will open in Sydney on October 28 and tour Australia up until mid-2015. Buy tickets.
