---
name: "Van Smith"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/van-smith"
fi1m_id: "van-smith"
imdb_id: "nm0810249"
tmdb_id: 77252
wikidata_id: "Q7913665"
roles: ["Costume designer"]
born: "17 August 1945"
died: "5 December 2006"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_over: 0
updated: "2026-09-26T17:41:42.267021+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Van Smith

## Identity

Van Smith

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/van-smith
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** van-smith
- **IMDb ID:** nm0810249
- **TMDB ID:** 77252
- **Wikidata ID:** Q7913665
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Smith, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7913665, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0810249/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/77252

Costume designer. Born 17 August 1945 in Marianna. Died 5 December 2006.

## Details

- **Work:** Costume designer
- **Born:** 17 August 1945, Marianna
- **Died:** 5 December 2006
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Smith, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7913665, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0810249/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/77252

## Biography

Van Smith (born Walter Avant Smith, Jr.) was an American costume designer and makeup artist. Born in Marianna, Florida, he studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and began working with director John Waters on *Pink Flamingos* (1972), for which he designed costumes and makeup, including the distinctive look for the performer Divine.

Smith designed costumes and, for the first six films, makeup for every John Waters feature from *Pink Flamingos* (1972) through *A Dirty Shame* (2004). His credits include *Female Trouble* (1974), *Desperate Living* (1977), *Polyester* (1981), *Hairspray* (1988), *Cry-Baby* (1990), *Serial Mom* (1994), *Pecker* (1998) and *Cecil B. Demented* (2000). He was one of Waters’ regular collaborators, known as the Dreamlanders, and also worked on episodes of the television series *Homicide: Life on the Street*. Smith died in Marianna, Florida, in 2006.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, nytimes.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Pink Flamingos* (1972), Fi1m 64, as Guest at Party in Drag — [page](https://film.one/film/pink-flamingos.md)

## Complete filmography (11)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *A Dirty Shame* (2004), Costume Design
- *Cecil B. Demented* (2000), Costume Design
- *Pecker* (1998), Costume Design
- *Serial Mom* (1994), Costume Design
- *Cry-Baby* (1990), Costume Design, Makeup Designer
- *The Neon Woman* (1990), Costume Designer, Makeup Designer
- *Hairspray* (1988), Costume Design, Key Makeup Artist
- *Polyester* (1981), Makeup Artist, Costume Design
- *Desperate Living* (1977), Costume Design, Makeup Artist
- *Female Trouble* (1976), Costume Design, Makeup Artist
- *Pink Flamingos* (1972), as Guest at Party in Drag · Costume Design, Makeup Artist — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/pink-flamingos.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/van-smith