Hollywood costume designer on her Forest Hill beginnings

By Polly Nash

A movie costume designer is a long way from her roots, but she says she has never felt more at home than in the Hollywood hills.

Georgina Curtis, from Forest Hill, knew from a young age that she wanted to pursue a career in the creative arts.

She said: “I adored my childhood in South East London, I used to spend hours in Horniman Park and sketching in the museum.

“Being brought up in fabric stores such as Rolls & Rems in Lewisham and Allders in Croydon definitely had a creative effect on me as a child and shaped where I am today. ”

Georgina remembers a key moment at Virgo Fidelis primary school in Norwood, which has stuck with her throughout her career.

“When I was in year six I wrote the script for our end of year play,” she said. “To have that much creative responsibility and freedom at 11 years old was so important.

“At the end of the play our head teacher got up in front of the whole school and said to me: ‘One day we’re going to see your name in lights’.

“When you are a kid and you hear your head say something like that it really sticks with you. That encouragement made me feel like I had so much creativity to share in the world. That school was really a blessing in my life and changed a lot in me.”

Georgina continued to nurture her creative talents attending Sylvia Young summer camps in Croydon and studying Art & Design at the London College of Fashion.

“But I always felt like America was where opportunity and success were waiting for me,” She said.

“As a kid I was surrounded by this exciting American culture. The fashion, the music, the vibe. I think I was transfixed by the idea of Los Angeles.

“Will Smith is a personal hero of mine. I used to run home from school every Tuesday to watch The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on BBC 2.

“I would get these tastes of America throughout my life and whenever I was in Los Angeles for work, I would dream of living here. I loved it so much and wanted to make it home. 

“After completing Disney’s Aladdin in 2017, working with Will Smith, my hero and mentor, and the incredible crew and cast on that movie, I felt I was ready to make the move.

“I was so excited and I had waited for so long. I had got so much experience in the UK but it was just never really for me. America was always where I wanted to be.”

Georgina’s career continued to grow after she moved to California, working on programmes such as Homeland and American Horror Story.

She said that despite the huge changes in her life, she never felt overwhelmed or out of place in Hollywood.

“I think that my positive attitude and joy for my work bodes well with the good vibes in sunny California.

“Out here you’re playing with these big players and you’ve got to match up to their level. It always made me want to be better.

“I have been blessed to travel. As a costume designer and stylist sometimes research is not enough. Being in a country and experiencing the clothes and the culture is so important. Your senses can breath it all in and absorb it.”

It was Georgina’s work that saved her after losing both of her parents in 2018.

She recalled: “I was in a really bad place and then I got a phone call from a costume designer who I’d always wanted to work with. She said she was producing a film called ‘The Wrong Missy’ in Hawaii and wanted me to come straight away.

“To be pulled out of my grief and asked to work on a Netflix film in a place like Hawaii was just incredible.

“So far being over here has brought me nothing but great blessings in my life, and my family all support me being out here, but I do miss them a lot.

“I sometimes crave for food from home, and I do miss London, but there are some British grub pubs in LA so there are ways to curb the nostalgia.

“I spent the summer of 2020 out of work along with the rest of the world and decided to explore the Californian hiking trails. Looking out at my new city from these new heights, I think it started to sink in that I was now living in the hills – no longer the hills of my youth in Forest Hill, but the hills of Hollywood. My dream had come true.”