William Chang Suk-ping is a respected name in the industry whose renowned for his works in costume design and art direction. His repeated collaborations with film director Wong Kar Wai in movies like Ashes of Time (1995), In The Mood For Love (2001) and 2046 (2005) have become timeless classics and perhaps his most notable one was when he got nominated for Best Costume Design at the Academy Awards in 2015 for The Grandmaster.
His influences can be seen in many of the hit dramas in recent years from Three Lives Three Worlds Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms to the currently airing Ming Dynasty, but there may have been some hits and misses. Why don’t we take a look?
Yang Mi received a lot of grief for her high hairline in earlier episodes.
But overall, the costumes were beautiful and captured the ethereal beauty of the drama.
Lost Love in Times (2017)
Who can forget the infamous Teletubbies head on Liu Shishi? I’m sorry, sir William, but…… WHY?
It’s obvious that much thought has been put into Zhou Xun’s intricate costumes. My favorite part: Her head-pieces!
But you can’t have it all, can you? Zhou Xun received flak in the scenes when she had to act as a young maiden. This costume, in particular, had me scratching my head and the parted hairstyle didn’t help.
The Flame’s Daughter (2018)
The Rise of Phoenixes (2018)
Love and Destiny (2019)
Another one that’s reminiscent of Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms in many ways.
Ming Dynasty (2019)
Ming Dynasty is Tang Wei’s comeback to dramas after a very long time, but her first appearances in ancient costume had many saying that she didn’t fit the genre.
Perhaps beauty is simply in the eye of the beholder because I didn’t think the costumes were THAT bad and find some to be quite cool, not to mention the classics that William Chang is known for are still unrivalled to this day. Kudos, sir William! I hope we’ll be seeing more of his creations in 2020! (Except for the Teletubbies. I mean, come on.)
What do you guys think? Are they creative or somehow weird?
malseg
I love the costume design for the fantasy dramas (Ni Ni's dresses!), and even the outfits for TROP are A+, but his costume designs for the actual period dramas tend to be inaccurate. Still pretty, though.
Anonymous
UwU!! With being the costume designer for TMOPB and Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, you have me as your new youngest fan. I would literally L.O.V.E this guy if only he also designed Legend of Fuyao's costumes … OMG they're the best ones I've seen so far. Am still currently watching it (I'm late, I know.) Sad he didn't. BUTTTTT WOW anyway.