A year went by until one afternoon in 2007 when the phone rang. Frayling was calling Landis, then president of the Costume Designers Guild, with some great news: The V&A wanted to make “Hollywood Costume” its lead exhibition in 2012. Unbeknown to Landis, the museum had conducted a survey, and “Hollywood Costume” had been the public’s overwhelming top choice for a future show.

Given the green light, Landis started asking family and friends to name their favorite movies — not favorite costumes.

It was imperative to have every genre and a broad spectrum of films represented in the show. “I really wasn't interested in getting a multitude of people telling me that their favorite costume was Audrey Hepburn’s in ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’” she said. Costume design is a key element in every production, including modern films. “Actors will always be in the center of the frame, and their clothes are there with them.”

From her preliminary research, a list of favorites quickly emerged: “The Wizard of Oz,” “Gone With the Wind,”  “Shakespeare in Love,” “Taxi Driver,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “The Searchers” and “Casablanca.”

Next came the tricky part — finding the costumes.

“It’s too expensive for studios to keep costumes that aren’t going to be used again,” Landis explained, “and when you’re making a movie, you don’t know if you’re making a classic. So how do you know what to keep? You can’t keep them all. Clothes have to work for their room and board.”

So Landis turned to Debbie Reynolds. The veteran actress had amassed an enormous costume collection, with the dream of one day creating a museum. Reynolds gave Landis carte blanche to choose what she wanted for “Hollywood Costume.” But in 2011, things fell apart when Reynolds was hit with a $6 million lien against the collection, and she was forced to auction off the costumes.

“Debbie’s clothes went to Korea, the Emirates and everywhere in the world,” Landis said. Undaunted, she began chasing down the costumes with mixed success. To replace the ones she couldn’t track down, the veteran costume designer scoured international film archives, museums, studios and private collections.

There were moments of serendipity. During a London press day prior to the opening of the 2012 show, Landis commented that she’d love to incorporate the white disco suit, designed by Patricia Von Brandenstein, that John Travolta wore in “Saturday Night Fever.”