In 2007 Tim Burton adapted Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's stage musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, for the big screen. Johnny Depp played the titular 'Sweeney Todd', a barber falsely convicted and exiled to Australia by the corrupt 'Judge Turpin' (Alan Rickman), who coveted his wife 'Lucy', returns to London to exact his revenge. Reinstated in his old Fleet Street barber shop he is helped by the failing pie shop owner below him, 'Mrs. Nellie Lovett' (Helena Bonham Carter), who has an unrequited love for the barber. Sweeney Todd murders his customers and she processes the corpses into meat pies, causing her business to prosper. Their bloody good fortune ultimately ends in a grisly fate for the killer duo.
Sweeney Todd costume worn by Johnny Depp,
Mrs. Lovett costume worn by Helena Bonham Carter
and Judge Turpin costume worn by Alan Rickman
in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
This trio of costumes designed by Colleen Atwood for this Gothic musical slasher movie were photographed on display at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 13, 2025.
Sweeney Todd's coat is made from a modern laser-but leather and then aged, with a sheen to give an insect-like quality to convey how he'd been hardened by his past experiences.
Meanwhile for Mrs. Lovett's final dress the designer found a piece of original period fabric to reflect the character's rich taste and how her costumes evolved with her wealth as her pie business flourishes.
Despite his wealth, Judge Turpin's unkempt look was designed to covey his loose morals and decadent character, and his vest features embroidered monkeys to help convey his transgressive appetites for pleasure.
These costume designs earned the regular Tim Burton and Johnny Depp collaborator an Academy Award nomination for the film, and you can see more of her work with these Alice in Wonderland movie costumes, these Alice Through the Looking Glass film costumes, these Dumbo movie costumes and these Into the Woods movie costumes to name a few.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street movie poster
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