Career spotlight: Costume designer

Three established costume designers reflect on their careers, describe a typical day, and offer advice for would-be designers.
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Essie Davis in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Image via missfisherexhibition.com.au

On screen and stage alike, the right costume helps define and convey character, aids performance, and pleases the eye. But how does one become a costume designer, and what is a typical day like in this specialised profession?

Laurel Frank, Costume Designer and Founding Member, Circus Oz, began working in the theatre after finishing university. ‘My focus was academic really, early in my career, and I thought that was the sort of thing that I would do, but I had making skills, garment-making skills, so gradually I started to focus on the production side … The costume making was a focus over time rather than something I started with; I didn’t go to a training institution, I did it on the job, really.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts