Atlanta Magazine • Atlanta Magazine February 2025 • Field Notes

Behind the seams with Sandy Powell. Keeping unsheltered Atlantans warm. The Hawks’ fan zone returns.

Sandy Powell sewed her first bold creation at five years old: a pint-size bikini, the start of a remarkable career in costuming. After four decades in the film industry, she’s still transforming fabrics into unforgettable characters, each with its own story to tell.

Powell, a three-time Oscar winner known for her work on The Favourite and Shakespeare in Love, is the subject of an exhibit at SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film, on view through March. “Sandy Powell’s Dressing the Part: Costume Design for Film” displays her iconic creations and offers an immersive look into her character-driven creative process.

“Featuring the work of Sandy Powell has been a goal of ours since the museum opened nearly a decade ago,” says Rafael Gomes, curator and creative director for SCAD FASH. In 2021, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival honored Powell for her outstanding achievements in film costume design, sparking a relationship that ultimately led to the exhibit.

The show is designed cinematically, following a timeline of Powell’s life and highlighting the films that inspired her most iconic work. Each costume is on display from within an elevated black box that “mimics larger-than-life film cells,” says Gomes. Lit from beneath, they replicate the feeling of watching a movie in a theater.

While curating her exhibition, Gomes was struck by Powell’s attention to the colors of each piece of clothing. “I noticed a recurring use of a particular shade of blue-green throughout Powell’s films,” Gomes explains. “A great example is the train-inspector costume worn by Sacha Baron Cohen in Hugo, which Powell designed in this specific shade so that the audience would visually gravitate to this character in crowded scenes.”

Powell’s use of visual storytelling is apparent in Todd Haynes’s 2015 film Carol, where she blends her designs into the characters’ narratives. In a documentary that accompanies the SCAD FASH exhibit, Powell delves into a tan fur coat she created for Cate Blanchett, who plays the titular character as she grapples with her sexuality and failing marriage.

“The one we actually used was pieced together by old bits of vintage coats, simply because I was determined to get the right color for her— because it’s Cate,” says Powell in the documentary. “It was very fragile. It split every single day of the shoot, so every day the costumer was underneath, sewing or taping up the splits.” This “sad coat,” she explains, exemplified Carol’s unraveling life.

To Gomes, such details are what make Powell a true visionary in the film industry and bring her creativity to life in a way that extends beyond clothing. The impact of her costumes is monumental, he says: “Her work in and of itself can be used as a source of fashion history.”

For Atlantans experiencing homelessness, living on the street has its share of dangers.

But it’s on the coldest nights that the city’s unsheltered population becomes acutely vulnerable. A 2024 investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that over the previous three years, at least 32 people who were confirmed homeless died from cold exposure in metro Atlanta. And the number of unsheltered people is growing: The 2024 Point-in-Time Count, administered every January, found more than 1,000 people in Atlanta who were not in any temporary housing, up from 738 the year before. (Survey data for 2025 isn’t yet released.)

“Our clients have addiction behaviors, issues with their mental health,” says Torrance Wynn, a street medicine resource specialist with Mercy Care. “But when temperatures drop, our number one concern is, Will they be alive the next morning?”

Mercy Care’s street teams provide a range of direct services for Atlantans experiencing homelessness. The organization, founded in Ireland by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy, who opened Atlanta’s first hospital in 1880, provides primary care services at its clinics, as well as street services ranging from flu vaccinations to daily medicine drop-offs. From there, Mercy Care staff will offer clients more long-term resources such as transitional housing and mental healthcare. But the first step, says Mercy Care CEO Kathryn Lawler, is meeting people’s “basic human dignity and basic human needs.”

When it comes to cold, that means providing whatever they need to stay alive. The City of Atlanta, surrounding counties, and various churches open warming shelters when temperatures drop, but getting people there and back requires serious logistics. Warming shelters fill up, and each county has its own regulations, including the temperature threshold that dictates when shelters open. “Churches and shelters open when they want, but [the counties] range from 38 to 32 degrees, and it depends on precipitation,” says Meredith Swartz, Mercy Care’s chief planning officer. “Plus, they all use a different forecast.”

Mercy Care staff provides MARTA cards or drives people to pickup areas, where buses transport them to the shelters (and return them, as shelters generally close during the day). That’s if they can convince them to go. Many homeless people are deeply wary of public shelters—with good reason, notes Michelle Keith, a street medicine case manager. “It can be really traumatizing to be in an unfamiliar place, especially if you’re struggling with trauma,” she says. “Some people prefer to stay where they know they are safe.”

Some people decline warming shelters because they can’t bring pets; others worry their belongings will be stolen while they’re gone. Women who have fled domestic violence may fear bumping into their abuser. For those who prefer to sleep outdoors, Mercy Care provides hand warmers, blankets, and even mats made by volunteers that provide some protection against the cold ground.

Those measures aren’t always enough. “It gets emotional during this time of year,” says Wynn, who has been working with Mercy Care for more than 20 years. “It can get you really down when you find out some of the clients you’ve worked with are no longer here.”

When the stakes are so high, getting even a single hesitant person into a warming shelter is a victory. “It was getting cold, and I was working with this little lady for days, but she did not want to go,” recalls Keith of one client. “But last year we found her a women’s shelter in Selena [S. Butler Park in Atlanta], and she absolutely loved it there.” The woman has since moved into a transitional shelter, and Mercy Care is finding her longer-term solutions. Says Keith, “She just needed that first step.”

Adnan Ikic dresses for battle for a recent Atlanta Hawks matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans. Sporting a painted red A on both of his cheeks and an old Dejounte Murray jersey, he heads into State Farm Arena and up to Section 122, where his seat, which he won’t ever sit in, is located. Ikic is a member of the FanDuel 404 Crew, a group of 92 superfans who lead chants throughout the game. After the players stream onto the court, Ikic stands on his chair and rips his jersey off to lead the crowd in chanting “A-T-L.”

The 404 Crew is the recent rebrand of the Sixth Man Section, which started in 2009 as the Hawks’ “student section.” It was launched by an intern, Drew Frank, then a Georgia Tech student who now works as the Hawks’ game presentation director. For packed weekend games, this youthful crew (open to all ages, provided they can yell) serves as the bass line to the crowd’s melody; on more barren weeknights, they keep the energy high.

Last summer, however, the Sixth Man Section was thrown into flux when its title sponsor, Kia, backed out of its endorsement deal. Rumors swirled that the Hawks had nixed the section for good. “I was nervous with what was being said, and we weren’t told everything right away,” Ikic says. Luckily, the team brought the section back this season, now renamed the FanDuel 404 Crew and sponsored by the digital sports betting company.

“The transition ended up being seamless for us.” Ikic, who moved to the United States from Bosnia when he was three, started going to Hawks games with his dad. He quickly noticed the rowdy Sixth Man Section: His dad had led the supporters section for their Bosnian hometown’s soccer club, and they both liked to sit close to the Hawks’ supporters group to catch the atmosphere.

When Ikic was 19, he decided to try out for the group. In an American Idol–style audition, Ikic told four judges why he should be in the section, chanted for them, and attended a preseason game to show off his energy. “When I got the email that I made it, I was so over the moon that I quit my part-time job on the spot,”

Ikic says. “It would have conflicted with the games, and there will always be another job.” Ikic is now part of the 404 Crew leadership, so he handles duties such as organizing tickets and finding substitute cheerers. His dad also joined the crew and sits next to Ikic for most home games. The 404 Crew plans to recruit more fans to maintain and potentially expand the section. It has competition in the NBA: This season, the Los Angeles Clippers introduced a 4,500-person supporters section called The Wall at their new arena. At the section’s debut game, Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant, shooting in front of the cheering hordes, missed two key free throws. “When I see something like what the Clippers have, I am inspired to seek growth and maybe even get a spot behind the basket,” says Ikic.

The Hawks are watching other supporters sections but are mostly focused on making theirs unique. “The 404 Crew is our way to put the megaphone on the fans to create home-court advantage,” says Joe Abercrombie, senior vice president of entertainment and production. Abercrombie doesn’t participate in the cheers, but he makes sure to sit behind the 404 Crew for every home game. “I feed off their energy, just like everyone else.”