Milena Canonero was born in Torino, Italy, in 1946. Canonero studied art, design history and costume design in Genova. She then moved to England, where she began working in small theatre and film productions. While designing for commercials in London, she met many fil directors.Her first major film work as a costume designer was in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. She worked with Kubrick again in Barry Lyndon, for which she won her first Oscar, together with Ulla-Britt Söderlund. Her second win was for Chariots of Fire, directed by Hugh Hudson.
She is married to actor Marshall Bell.
Canonero has also designed the costumes for several operas directed by Otto Schenk, such as Il trittico (Puccini, Vienna State Opera), As You Like It (Shakespeare, Salzburg Festival), Die Fledermaus (Strauss, Vienna State Opera), Andrea Chénier (Giordano, Vienna State Opera), and Arabella (Strauss, Metropolitan Opera).
In 2001, Canonero received the Career Achievement Award in Film from the Costume Designers Guild. She won her third Oscar for Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette.
