Sonia Grande has completed six collaborations with Woody Allen, while also working with Pedro Almodóvar in four projects and with Alejandro Amenábar on several productions. She has collaborated with other notable directors such as González Iñárritu, James Gray, Asghar Farhadi, Nancy Meyers, and Roland Joffé. In Alicante, a fashion cinema award will be presented on June 10 as part of a new distinction that honors the work of film costume designers in the competition. Grande, a natural Asturian raised in Oviedo (born 1964), has been working in Alicante for years and continues to contribute to the region’s cinema culture.
Grande has been nominated twelve times and has won two Goya Awards, with links to notable works like Your Eyes Relating to Fernando Trueba in 1999 and While War Persists, directed by Alejandro Amenábar in 2020. She also received the Gold Medal of Merit in Fine Arts in 2016, an achievement she accepted in Alicante.
“I love Alicante because I am Asturian by origin and Alicante by choice. I consider myself a resident of Alicante, living between La Marina and Rojales. I travel for work, but my life centers in this area, which I deeply cherish,” Grande explains. She views the award as an honor and finds it meaningful that a film festival recognizes the field of costume design as a serious narrative element.
“The time has come for costume design to be seen as a serious storytelling craft. The professionals who add information and emotion to a film deserve recognition, and this aspect should be treated with the same respect as other cinematic departments. A wardrobe misstep can undermine a film; a director may not admit it, but costume choices precede spoken lines and reveal a character before any dialogue is uttered. When done well, the wardrobe integrates with the image and elevates the entire project; when it’s flawed, the film loses its edge,” Grande notes.
From an artistic family, Grande grew up painting and drawing. “Art shaped my path,” she shares. “I learned by doing, creating characters and decorating them with fabrics, making collages, and assembling my first figurines long before formal training.” As she pursued Dramatic Art, she encountered mentors like Miguel Narro, a director and designer of the Spanish Theatre, and Andrea D’Odorico, who helped shape her early career. “I spent about ten years in theater; there was no formal school for costume design in film then, a situation not mirrored in the UK, Italy, or the United States. Still, I worked hard because there were courses and opportunities, even if they were limited. In the future, studios could play a crucial role in establishing training centers to rival schools anywhere in the world,” she explains.
Grande’s transition from theater to cinema was rapid, and she earned her first Goya nomination for Matchmaker in 1996. Nearly fifty films followed. “The theater was a valuable training ground,” she says, “it’s a necessary school, even if cinema becomes the main path.”
working with directors
Grande has collaborated with a broad range of directors. Her partnership with Woody Allen became especially productive: after the projects in Paris, she worked on Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Midnight in Paris, To Rome with Love, Magic in the Moonlight, and Rifkin’s Festival. The creative process with Allen remains a highlight of her career and a testament to the collaborative nature of filmmaking.
One of Sonia Grande’s sketches for a Woody Allen production illustrates the craft she brings to the screen.
“The people you work with are decisive in guiding you to places that elevate your work. The better the director, the greater the personal leap. I wouldn’t be the same if I hadn’t collaborated with Woody Allen, Almodóvar, Amenábar, Iñárritu, Roland Joffé, Asghar Farhadi, or James Gray. I’ve been incredibly fortunate,” Grande reflects.
Grande downplays personal fame, noting that even industry icons like Allen remind her that content quality matters more than platforms or formats. The essence of her approach is to offer ideas and perspectives, leaving the director to decide, while emphasizing the necessity of teamwork and mutual trust. When working with directors such as Almodóvar, Allen, and others, Grande finds that preference often comes down to how designers respond to creative desires, whether it’s selecting a bold red dress for Almodóvar or choosing elegant, restrained styles that suit Allen’s sensibilities. She notes that overly warm clothing can overwhelm actors and blunt the performance.
Influenced by a mix of classic and contemporary cinema, Grande appreciates naturalism but avoids copying reality. She admires Almodóvar for his distinctive style and Woody Allen for his nuanced depictions of society. She also expresses interest in working with a young American director and hints at future collaborations with talents such as Polanski or Scorsese. Her ambition is broad and forward-looking.
“Pride” for the Alicante festival
The director of the Alicante International Film Festival, Vincent Sevacon, expresses enormous pride in honoring Sonia Grande with this recognition, highlighting her brilliant career, dedication, and extraordinary talent in film costumes. Rosario Puñales, Coordinator of the Fashion Cinema department, emphasizes that costumes and stage design are essential components of cinematic storytelling, and the prize seeks to give visibility to these professionals.
The celebration will also feature screenings and talks with the public, including exhibits at the Alicante Museum of Contemporary Art (MACA), showcasing the artistry of the designers who shape the visual language of cinema.