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This iconic witch’s hat owned by Glinda Upland (played by Ariana Grande) and eventually given to Elphaba Thropp (Cynthia Erivo) happened to have a Filipino connection, as did other hats in the film, courtesy of its senior milliner Harvy Santos, who is a Filipino now based in the United Kingdom.
Santos came a long way and found his own yellow brick road to the Land of Oz, now working on the film’s most iconic costume pieces. “I originally came from the Philippines. My fascination for costume started when I was six,” he said in a mini feature released by Universal Pictures.
Like many dreamers wanting to break into Hollywood, Santos started his career in a completely different path, as a dancer at the Hong Kong Ballet, then saved enough money to start educating himself on costumes.