Costume Designer Dominique Dawson Talks ‘GOAT’ And Bringing Street Style to Animation

Dawson's design process involved understanding the animated world, characters, and cultures to create distinct, expressive looks.
Incorporating streetwear and generational fashion trends brought a modern, relatable feel to the animal characters and their sport.
Dawson drew inspiration from her time in New York, observing streetball culture and on-the-go fashion.

In a television series or film, a character’s costume can show who they are before they say their first line. Some of the most memorable costumes are those worn by animated characters like Mickey Mouse, Penny Proud, Princess Tiana, and Mrs. Incredible, to name a few.

This is why costume designers like Dominique Dawson deserve more recognition.

Dawson is the creative powerhouse behind shows like Swarm, The Burbs, The Vince Staples Show, and films like HIM, Origin, and more

Now, the Emmy-nominated designer adds yet another impressive project to her resume as the costume designer for GOAT, her first animated film.

Produced by Steph Curry, the Sony Pictures film follows a little goat named Will, played by Caleb McLaughlin, who gets an opportunity to play professional Roarball, a basketball-style sport, dominated by largest and strongest animals.

The star-studded cast includes Jennifer Hudson, Gabrielle Union, and Curry, who all voice different animals.

Designing for animal characters can’t be an easy feat, but Dawson took on the challenge — and she scored.

We chatted with the Bay Area native about her design process, working with illustrators, stylish cartoon characters and more.

Check it out below!

HB: When you got the call for GOAT, what went through your mind? What were your thoughts when you heard it would be an animated feature?

Dominique Dawson: So, when I originally got the call for GOAT, I was unsure as to how the process would go, and that’s always an interesting challenge for me, because then, it’s kind of like you’re stepping into a territory that’s unknown. You really get to make your own process, as to how you want the workflow to go. So for me, it looked all good. It was just like anything’s possible and it seemed like a dream opportunity.

HB:Did the idea of working in animation excite you? What were your first thoughts about stepping into that space?

Dominique Dawson: Yes, I mean, I love animation. I have such an appreciation for the time and patience that goes into that, and all of the great imagination that all the team players put into each piece. But for me, this one in particular, being connected with Steph Curry, I’m from the Bay, so being from San Francisco, I have been wanting to work with his company, and so it just felt like a perfect fit. And with GOAT, as I read the script, it was really a film that encourages kids to embrace who they are. Whatever size you are, whatever shape you are, whatever you are, you can dream big. And that body positivity and encouragement is the type of project that I wanted to be a part of.

HB: Once you said yes, what did the design process look like for each character?

Dominique Dawson: When we began, I had several meetings with the production designer, the director, and the art director. To really get a sense of the world, the illustration aesthetic that they were going for, [and] also just the landscape. Where is Vineland? It’s in a jungle, metropolitan kind of environment, so it’s hot. There’s lots of hills, vines, and trees, and ups and downs.

Once I could wrap my head around that kind of aesthetic, and it’s very colorful because of that tropical essence, then I was able to hone in on how we can infuse this streetwear culture into this landscape. And have it spread throughout a variety of generations. There are so many different ages on the team. Will is a rookie, so his style is gonna be a little younger [and] fly and then we have our old heads like Archie, and Jet, who have been on the team for years. But, they still have their own swag. It was about understanding those generational gaps, and then trying to kind of have self-expression through fashion. that big streetwear deck really helped me communicate with our illustrators.

We worked with illustrators in South Africa, Paris,Canada, and then we had a big team here in LA. I really wanted them to understand the culture, so that deck was pivotal for us.

HB: Because the characters are animals, what elements of wildlife did you incorporate into the designs?

Dominique Dawson: I really did study how the real animals move in their own natural habitats, I wanted to get a grasp of what their strengths were and how their bodies move, so that their… the clothing would never be too confining or human-like. I wanted to make sure that they were adapted to their form. Roarball is a global league, right? Which means we had a wide variety of species. I think we had about 29 different species that we wanted to really focus on, and then we kind of allowed some of the other animals to be incorporated through side characters, the fandom, all of that.

HB: You went to NYU, where street style is everywhere. Did that influence the fashion in GOAT?

Dominique Dawson: Oh, most definitely. I mean, you know, when I was a freshman at NYU, I would always walk by the cage, which is on West 4th and I would see all the streetball players playing there, and so I had a really good understanding of, like, how people in New York, you pack up everything that you need for the day. People might have a suit in their bag and want to get down on the court and play so they can change and then go to work. All of that kind of eclectic fashion style and on-the-go practice gear was really important for us to focus in on and understand that. Especially with Will, he’s always ready to play. We wanted something that looked as if he was ready to hoop.

HB: Let’s talk about the jerseys. What inspired those designs?

Dominique Dawson: For the jerseys, we really wanted to create a dynamic look. We started out with just the idea of the swoosh of the vines themselves, and the thorns. So that was kind of our iconography that we used. We were able to build out the trim which you see, that’s really the thorns are sharp and aggressive on the sleeve.

But across the warm-up suits, we see a softer, more abstract version of the vines. So we just really were able to kind of have a modern spin on this violin aesthetic. That was really fun, being able to create that color palette, and then have each team kind of have their own based off of where they’re from. Having that color palette to go and connect them to their hometown.

For Vineland, the orange,green, and black was so strong. Being from San Francisco, orange and black are two of my favorite colors and we just wanted to make sure that the thorns were ever-present. Even in the font [for] the team and the numbers on the jersey, we wanted it to have a look that we haven’t seen in basketball before, and just have that edge. I think across the board, as a team, we were able to really step into some new territory and have fun with getting these heightened looks on these animals, and get kids excited about fashion as well.

HB: What has the response been like so far?

Dominique Dawson: Yeah, I mean, so a lot of my family has seen the film, and I just had a little event at my house, so I got to hear about… from some of my neighbors and their kids who have seen the film And everybody just loves it across the board, like, no matter what age you are, I think you can find a character that you connect to and really delve into the world and get excited, you know what I mean? A lot of the kids are also excited by the different courts that they play on. Because… Because this is a global league, each court has… is made up of its own hurdles, for example, in, you know, there’s an area where it’s, like, all, like, glaciers and ice. So those pieces of ice are constantly moving. There’s the magma team, where there’s lava, you know, exploding, and, you know, volcanic rock that you have to maneuver through. So, it makes you have to be creative about how you play basketball, right? And so, we get to see basketball in a whole new way, with new tricks and, you know, just, I think it’s just a really great spin on the game.

HB: For fun, who are your GOATs in fashion and costume design?

Dominique Dawson: One of my GOATs is my little brother. I have 3 brothers and my little brother is so full of life [and] discipline. He’s fun, he’s dedicated, he played football all through college. Now he’s taken that commitment and now he’s in real estate. I’m just so in awe. I am so proud of the man he’s become. In terms of fashion, I’m really looking at people that are leaders and unafraid to step into uncharted territory. Designers like Alexander McQueen, Rick Owens,Schiaparelli, who really are bold in their choices. That’s what we wanted to be able to experiment with and I think we had fun. The moments where [the characters] walk into the stadium on the catwalk, that’s where we really got to lean into the fashion moments and really get the most out of it.

HB: When you think of fashionable animated characters, who comes to mind?

Dominique Dawson: Miss Piggy, she was animated in the Muffet Babies movie. Also, Rugrats, you know what I mean? Those babies, as young as they were, each had their own identity. Those clothes are marked in our heads. The idea of what Chucky wore, the little overalls, those are memories that are just sealed in me. I think there’s so much room to grow there and I hope that this is a trend that continues in animation by incorporating a costume designer.

Costume Designer Dominique Dawson Talks ‘GOAT’ And Bringing Street Style to Animation was originally published on hellobeautiful.com