Park People
www.parkworld-online.com
Playing the lead
Park World editor Becci Knowles, speaks to Laurent Guinci, founder of LOLO CREATIVE about costume design in theme parks and other attractions.
L
aurent Guinci, or Lolo to his friends, is a French designer who has been based in London since 1994. Despite his origins in the sciences with degrees in Maths, Physics and Astronomy, he always had an innate urge to own a design business.
When Laurent arrived in London as a young designer, he turned his craft in multiple directions; sketching staff uniforms for restaurants across London, including the exclusive and stylish MOMO. The MOMO logo is, he says, “his legacy”.
From here he went onto design a ‘capsule range’ of bespoke T-shirts in an array of unique styles that gained broad recognition in media outlets, including Vogue. This got him noticed by costume designer Jany Temime, who gave him a break into the film industry.
Laurent, how and when did you make the move into theme parks - what was your first project? Which providers do you work with now?
We, Jany and I, worked on a film together before and following summer 2002, after I had sold my last T-shirt collection. She was offered the job and proposed me to work with her, starting on HP3 embarking me on a magical whirlwind.
During the filming of HP6 (I think?), I was introduced to the Universal team to work on the Harry Potter upcoming theme Park: The Forbidden Journey. But the journey didn’t finish there for me. From my 13 years in the UK film industry, including the Harry Potter franchise, and a strong relationship with Universal Studio Creative, I founded my company LOLO CREATIVE and expanded to encompass multiple disciplines in the costume and clothing world. I first developed the WB Studio Tour in London as Costume Creative Director and following my previous experience in the HP parks at Universal, there was a swift move into the Theme Park realm where brand awareness and immersion were key to a successful design portfolio. With the help of my wonderful team, we became an
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award-winning costume and uniform design studio and an established vendor for global clients such as Universal (Orlando, Japan, Hollywood, Beijing), with credits including The Hulk, Volcano Bay, Harry Potter and lately the upcoming Universal Park Beijing and other surprises in Orlando… coming soon!
Talk me through the whole process? Well, you get a phone call… you get “the” phone call for the job! Then, we get a scope of work first with a pretty accurate list of the costumes and roles needed to be designed for, divided by IP and roles: Food and Beverages, Entertainment, Ride/Attraction operators, Management, Back of House, etc.
We draw a schedule, a budget and propose it to the client. On approval of budget, which may take a couple of revisions and compromises, the job is awarded to the company. Then the fun starts!
I have a very talented team working and supporting me. After working out the logistic with my MD Steven, I concentrate on the designs with Chloe, Francesco deals with graphic designs, prints and so much more,
SPRING PART 1 2021 Volcano Bay
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