A version of this story about “Everything Everywhere All at Once” costume designer Shirley Kurata first appeared in the Below-the-Line issue of the TheWrap’s awards magazine.

Despite the extravagant costuming in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” costume designer Shirley Kurata had to work economically to accommodate the indie film’s limited resources. Working with directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who originally came from the music-video world and understood the film’s budgetary constraints, Kurata saved money on certain looks to splurge on others, even if that meant deviating from costumes indicated in the script.

As Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh), Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), Deirdre (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Joy (Stephanie Hsu) transport from the film’s main universe to different parts of the multiverse, Kurata adjusted their costuming to fit each version of the character. While Kurata drew from quotidian looks she observed in Chinatown for Evelyn and Waymond’s costuming in what she calls “the tax universe,” she was influenced by Yeoh’s roles in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “In the Mood for Love” and other Asian films for Evelyn’s movie-star version.

The film’s larger-than-life villain, Jobu Tupaki, on the other hand, is what Kurata calls a “free-for-all,” with inspiration coming from genres across Japanese fashion, K-pop and science-fiction…