| Code | DS/UK/578 |
| Person Name | Canonero; Milena (1946-); Costume designer |
| Dates | 1946- |
| Dates and Places | 1946: Born in Turin, Italy
1960s: Attended University and moved to London
1971: Completes work on first film A Clockwork Orange
1976: Wins first Academy Award for Barry Lyndon
1982: Wins Academy Award for Chariots of Fire
2007: Wins Academy Award for Marie Antoinette |
| History | Born in Turin, Italy in 1946. Studied art history and fashion design in Genoa, moved to London in the late 1960s and met Stanley Kubrick on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Soon after, Kubrick asked her to design the costumes for his next film A Clockwork Orange (1971). She continued to work with Kubrick on his next two films, Barry Lyndon, for which she and co-designer Ulla-Britt Söderland, won the Academy Award, and The Shining (1980). From there, her career expanded.
Milena Canonero’s work is largely celebrated as providing a realistic touch. “Once I’ve done my research,” she stated in 1986, “I go into what each character should wear. For a period movie where period clothes exist, you try to combine real things with things you design and make. The real thing, you can never make it as good as that.” Her work largely revolves around period pieces, from the 18th century to an alternate 21st century, and on her projects she likes to work equally as close to the director as with the creative team. Alongside Kubrick, Canonero is known for her collaborations with Francis Ford Coppola, Sofia Coppola, and Wes Anderson. Her work has also expanded from film to television and stage productions around the world. She currently resides in Italy and is married to actor Marshall Bell. |
| Activity | Films:
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Barry Lyndon (1975)
The Disappearance (1977)
Midnight Express (1978)
The Shining (1980)
Chariots of Fire (1981)
The Hunger (1983)
Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984)
The Cotton Club (1984)
Out of Africa (1985)
Barfly (1987)
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988)
Lost Angels (1989)
The Bachelor (1990)
Dick Tracy (1990)
Reversal of Fortune (1990)*
The Godfather Part III (1990)
Single White Female (1992)
The Godfather Trilogy: 1901-1980 (1992)
Damage (1992)
Only You (1994)
Death and the Maiden (1994)
Love Affair (1994)
Camilla (1994)
Bulworth (1998)
Titus (1999)
The Affair of the Necklace (2001)
Solaris (2002)
Eros (2004)
Ocean’s Twelve (2004)
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
Marie Antoinette (2006)
Belle Toujours (2006)
The Darjeeling Limited (2007)
I Vicerè (2007)
The Wolfman (2010)
Carnage (2011)
Something Good (2013)
Castello Cavalcanti (2013)
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Last Summer (2014)
Paris Can Wait (2016)
The Sisters Brothers (2018)
The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (2021)
Hill of Vision (2022)
Asteroid City (2023)
Megalopolis (2024)
The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
*costume consultant
TV:
Miami Vice, season 3, co-designer with Richard Shissler
Stage:
Arabella (1994)
The Met – Tosca (2009)
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (2019)
The Metropolitan Opera: Arabella (2025)
Production:
Good Morning, Babylon (1987), associate producer
Fair Game (1988), associate producer
Naked Tango (1990), co-producer
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You (2012), producer
Romeo & Juliet (2013), producer
Hill of Vision (2022), producer |
| Relationships | Stanley Kubrick, collaborator |
| Francis Ford Coppola, collaborator |
| Sofia Coppola, collaborator |
| Wes Anderson, collaborator |
| Source | Gross, Michael. “Milena Canonero: Fashion On and Off the Big Screen.” The New York Times, February 11, 1986. |
| Ferriss, Suzanne, and Mallory Young. “‘Marie Antoinette’: Fashion, Third-Wave Feminism, and Chick Culture.” Literature/Film Quarterly 38, no. 2 (2010): 98–116. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43797666. |
| Edizioni, Malcaus. “Weaver of Dreams.” The Ambassador, February 26, 2026. https://theambassador.it/the-weaver-of-dreams/. |
| Jenkins, David. “A Conversation with Milena Canonero, Wes Anderson’s Costume Designer.” Little White Lies, June 21, 2023. https://lwlies.com/interviews/a-conversation-with-milena-canonero-wes-andersons-costume-designer. |
| Rubin, Natasha. “Milena Canonero.” Bloomsbury Fashion Central. Accessed July 23, 2026. https://www.bloomsburyfashioncentral.com/film-and-television-costume-milena-canonero. |
| Weston, Hillary. “Wardrobe Department: Milena Canonero - Journal - Metrograph.” Metrograph, 2023. https://metrograph.com/wardrobe-department-milena-canonero/. |
| Striegel, Jennifer. “Milena Canonero - a Review of Her Fascinating Work as Iconic Costume Designer | the House Magazine.” The House, January 26, 2022. https://thehouse-magazine.com/milena-canonero-a-review-of-her-fascinating-work-as-iconic-costume-designer/. |
| Blaetz, Robin. “THE AUTEUR RENAISSANCE, 1968–1980.” In Costume, Makeup, and Hair, edited by Adrienne L. McLean. Rutgers University Press, 2016. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1ffjrn6.8. |
| Dailies, Locarno. “Milena Canonero, Costume Designer and Four Times Academy Award Winner, to Receive Vision Award | Filmfestivals.Com.” Film Festivals, July 3, 2025. https://www.filmfestivals.com/blog/locarno_dailies/milena_canonero_costume_designer_and_four_times_academy_award_winner_to_receive_vision_award. |
| Donati, Silvia. “Italy Celebrates Costume Design Oscar Win with Milena Canonero.” Italy Magazine, February 23, 2015. https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/italy-celebrates-costume-design-oscar-win-milena-canonero. |
| Livingston, David. Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award - Inside. 28 Feburary, 2006. Getty Images. Access 26 July, 2026. https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/milena-canonero-poses-with-her-husband-marshall-bell-at-the-news-photo/56969818. |