Quickly synthesizing the mythology behind Jobu Tupaki (Stephanie Hsu), the all-powerful, multiverse-jumping architect of the nihilistic Everything Bagel in Everything Everywhere All at Once, could be a tough task. But the antagonist conjuring one audacious outfit after another — during her reign of chaos against her laundromat-owning mother, Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), — illustrates a pretty universal behavior. (Pardon the pun.)

“It’s a call for attention because she wasn’t getting it from her mom in the ‘real’ world,” says Shirley Kurata, costume designer of the sci-fi thriller-slash-family dramedy. Revealing herself to Evelyn to be an alternate version of her daughter, Joy, Jobu wears a show-stopping bedazzled white jumpsuit as she slow-walks toward her shell-shocked mom amid a burst of uncontrolled confetti. “The Elvis look is to provoke her mother and be more of a rebel,” says Kurata, who altered a high-end Elvis Presley impersonator costume to fit the petite Hsu.

Through Jobu’s steady rollout of outrageously outfitted personas, Kurata subverted and reclaimed Asian-centric tropes as well. Aided by discussions with writer-directors Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Kurata sent up the “stereotype of the ‘perfect Asian’ who’s ‘good at sports’ ” through the “wholesome” pink argyle vest- and socks-wearing…