Disney’s upcoming film adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time features some magical looks particularly unique otherworldly hairstyles created by Kim Kimble. Kimble chatted with The Knockturnal about capturing the magic of the characters in the hairstyles in the film recently.
She is most recognized for her starring role work on WE tv‘s L.A. Hair. Some of her most notable celebrity clientele include Beyoncé, Brandy Norwood, Kelly Rowland, and Mary J. Blige, Halle Berry and Shakira. From visionary director Ava DuVernay comes Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, an epic adventure based on Madeleine L’Engle’s timeless classic which takes audiences across dimensions of time and space, examining the nature of darkness versus light and, ultimately, the triumph of love. Through one girl’s transformative journey led by three celestial guides, we discover that strength comes from embracing one’s individuality and that the best way to triumph over fear is to travel by one’s own light.
The Knockturnal: How did you become involved with the film?
Kim Kimble: Ava Duvernay I’ve known her for years. She used to be a client and we have both worked together on other projects. But she called me and told me about this project and said you know there’s gonna be some really cool hair for this movie and I think you should be a part of it. I was like yeah I’m totally in because I wanted the opportunity to work with Ava and work with some the people that are in the film. It just sounded like a really great project as she described it to me.
The Knockturnal: What was your inspiration for the hairstyles in the film?
Kim Kimble: The main women the Mrs. they were like these amazing beings from the universe and each one had their own kind of look and feel. I did a lot of meetings with Ava met with the costume and the makeup people and it was great coming up with the ideas. I had to pull from imagination because there’s no reference of women from the universe these beings from the universe these stars these amazing women who are almost like fairy godmothers but not. But we pulled a lot of hair sheets, Ava wanted something avant-garde but yet couture, it had a couture feel to it. We wanted it to be out there but feel something that was very beautiful and relatable as well also.
The Knockturnal: What was the most challenging character to create hairstyles for?
Kim Kimble: I think they were all pretty interesting to do but I want to say there was this one particular look I did on Oprah, I want to say her Uriel hairstyle. I had to redo it three of four times before I got the look right. We tried different things, and the last one ended up being one of my favorite looks of the whole movie because it’s interesting it kind of looks like a star the way it’s designed, it was a sculpted look. But yea I want to say it was the hardest to finalize because we did a couple of tests on it and didn’t work, didn’t work and finally the last time I think we were all in agreement Ava, Oprah and me were like ‘This is it’ And again it was one of my favorite looks in the movie.
The Knockturnal: Can you speak more about what it was like working with Oprah on the film?
Kim Kimble: For years I had admired her, looked up to her because she is an amazing not only businesswoman but person, talented actress, she has her own network. She’s somebody I really looked up to and it was a pleasure to work with her. She’s an amazing personality and she’s extremely professional and just a talent. She gets on there and turns it on and she became Mrs. Which. But she’s just a fun and amazing person and it’s always great when you look up to someone and you actually get to work with them and they’re a pleasure to work with. That was the highlight of my whole experience because she’s just an awesome person.
The Knockturnal: How was it working with Storm Reid?
Kim Kimble: Storm Reid, I was extremely impressed by her. She’s also extremely professional and an amazing actress, she’s really really great at what she does. I expect to see big things from her because I feel people when they see her in this movie it’s just gonna be a whirlwind because she’s just really amazing in it. She’s one of those up and coming stars and just watching her, her character was great she embodied that character really really well and I love that she has natural hair in this movie naturally curly hair. So for all the girls with curly hair are gonna be proud seeing this the lead in the movie with naturally curly hair.
Ava DuVernay, Lalette Littlejohn, Storm Reid and Kim Kimball on the set of Disney’s A WRINKLE IN TIME.
The Knockturnal: Can you tell us what other symbols of Black Girl Magic did you see while working on set?
Kim Kimble: Oh man let’s just start with Ava, she is directing I think the first black female director to have a movie of this caliber. I think is pretty awesome. Then, of course, you have Oprah Winfrey who has her own network, we don’t even have to describe what kind of magical person she is and she also gives back and helps others and is a force to be reckoned with herself. There were a lot of African American women on this film, our team, the makeup team we had a lot of African American women in different positions on this film. We were deep in the black girl magic on this project. Then there was also the lead being the younger one she’s a force to be reckoned with.
The Knockturnal: How is doing hair for film and tv different from doing hair off camera or for a music video?
Kim Kimble: Doing hair in all these different genres you know everything is completely different. Being a hairstylist and of course, I started in a salon then I went into doing television and film then into working with music artists. Television and film is about creating a character with the hair. That’s why my first love of working with wigs was on film and theater because if you had to take someone back to a certain time era like the thirties or the sixties they become that character and hair is one of the major components and makeup of really creating that image. Tv is depending on the tv show, of course, it’s a lot longer, if it’s a sitcom it’s from week to week, you’re getting a new script from week to week so you’re creating new styles and different looks every week. On a film, you have one project and you kind of map the whole thing out and break the script down and you create the hair for this one project so that is one difference there. Films vary, it can be normal every day but tv can be the same thing. Music is a little different working with music artist because it’s all about their persona and image and their brand. But it’s interesting to see some of them going a little more different. I worked on Lemonade with Beyoncé and it was about a time period. It was almost like a small film in a way. It was a visual album but hair was inspired by New Orleans, women in the Antebellum back in the 1920’s so I kind of had to pull from what women’s’ hair was like in New Orleans in that era. But all these things it’s an art, you don’t just come in and style hair, it’s a lot of planning it’s a lot of meetings, it’s a lot of hair tests it’s a lot of preparation that goes into it when doing film and television which makes it different from just styling hair in a salon. I mean definitely being a salon stylist early on in my career I did a lot of even just designing looks for my clients. I was always trying to push them forward and pushing them to do something different. But of course, doing television and film is a whole other level of it and is a lot more people to collaborate with. Wardrobe, costume, directors, producers actors and actresses there’s a lot of collaboration in that.
The Knockturnal: What else do you have coming up?
Kim Kimble: Well actually I’m on my way to HSN I launched my product. I have a Silk line of hair care products also accessories like rollers and bonnets. But the most exciting thing is my Silk vapor iron which is like a high tech flat iron where you add an oil treatment into the iron and it vapors out nutrients to protect the hair and it creates a lot of shine, that’s pretty exciting for me. I have an upcoming project working with Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj so I have a really cool interesting project that I’m working with on them.
The film hits theater on March 9.
