Main content

Sandy Powell, costume designer

Sandy Powell, costume designer, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Sandy Powell won her first Academy Award for dressing Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love, and has since won two more Oscars - along with a further dozen nominations - and three BAFTAs. Her credits range from Gangs of New York for Martin Scorsese to Mary Poppins Returns for Disney, and she's worked with many of the biggest current screen stars, including Leonardo di Caprio, Cate Blanchett and Al Pacino.

Sandy was born in south London and completed an art foundation course at St Martin’s School of Art. In 1981 she got her first job designing costumes for the choreographer Lindsay Kemp’s show Nijinsky at La Scala in Milan. She later worked for the director Derek Jarman on his film Caravaggio and continued to collaborate with him until his death in 1994. She has also enjoyed long working relationships with Martin Scorsese and Todd Haynes.

Sandy has won acclaim for her designs on films with historical settings, including The Wings of the Dove, The Young Victoria and The Favourite starring Olivia Colman, as well as the flamboyant glam rock world of Velvet Goldmine and the fairy-tale fantasy of Cinderella, starring Lily James.

In 2011 she was awarded an OBE for services for the film industry and in 2023 she became the first costume designer to receive a BAFTA Fellowship.

DISC ONE: Jeepster - T Rex
DISC TWO: Adagietto, Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor. Composed by Gustav Mahler and performed by Orchestre de l'AcadΓ©mie de Santa CΓ©cilia and conducted by Franco Mannino
DISC THREE: Life on Mars? - David Bowie
DISC FOUR: La Vie en Rose - Alan Dunn
DISC FIVE: I’ll Never Fall in Love Again - Bobbi Gentry
DISC SIX: Satellite of Love - Lou Reed
DISC SEVEN: Where Love Lives (Come On In) - Alison Limerick
DISC EIGHT: I Left My Heart in San Francisco - Tony Bennett

BOOK CHOICE: Josef Koudelka: Gypsies
LUXURY ITEM: A lemon tree
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Life on Mars? - David Bowie

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Available now

36 minutes

Last on

Fri 1 Mar 2024 09:00

Music Played

  • T. Rex

    Jeepster

    • Electric Warrior.
    • Rhino/Warner Records.
    • 3.
  • Gustav Mahler

    Adagietto, Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Academy of Santa Cecilia, Rome. Conductor: Franco Mannino.
    • Mort A Venise (Bande Originale Du Film).
    • Sony Masterworks.
    • 1.
  • David Bowie

    Life On Mars?

    • Hunky Dory (2015 Remaster).
    • Parlophone UK.
    • 4.
  • Alan Dunn

    La Vie en Rose

    • Paris CafΓ©.
    • Cooking Vinyl.
    • 14.
  • Bobbi Gentry

    I'll Never Fall in Love Again

    • Touch 'Em With Love.
    • EMI Catalogue.
    • 9.
  • Lou Reed

    Satellite Of Love

    • Transformer.
    • RCA/Legacy.
    • 7.
  • Alison Limerick

    Where Love Lives (Come On In)

    • And Still I Rise.
    • Arista.
    • 3.
  • Tony Bennett

    I Left My Heart in San Francisco

    • I Left My Heart in San Francisco.
    • Columbia.
    • 1.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 25 Feb 2024 11:15
  • Fri 1 Mar 2024 09:00

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast