Theatre Academy: Costume Design
PROFESSIONAL COSTUME PROGRAM
Q: Do you dream of working in the glamor and bright lights of Hollywood?
A: The Theatre Academy Costume Program prepares costume professionals through hands-on training for theatre and film.
Why? Actors and directors ALWAYS need costumes to define and express their characters.
What we do:
- Collaborate with studios, shops, and employers in theatre, television, film and entertainment to ensure our classes grow the skills they're looking for.
- Help students strengthen and develop new skills through practical experience creating costumes.
You:
- don't have to have a theatre background.
- don't have to complete an AA (unless you want to, or to transfer to university). This is a certificate program.
- will need energy and enthusiasm to join the very active Theatre Academy.
- will learn new skills needed for the entertainment industry.
- practice putting your skills to use for plays, film and video productions every semester.
Pretty Fire, costumes by Stephanie Cano and Victoria Mellado
Jobs, Opportunities, and Internships for LACC Costume Students
The LACC Costume Design Program is widely recognized in the entertainment industry for producing skilled and talented designers, design assistants, and all manner of wardrobe professionals. Our graduates are working in the entertainment business in places including:
| American Film Institute |
Center Theatre Group |
| Cirque du Soleil |
Disney Productions, Disneyland |
| Eastern Costume |
HBO (Home Box Office) |
| Los Angeles Opera |
Netflix |
| Oregon Shakespeare Festival |
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble |
| Santa Monica Playhouse |
Santa Fe Opera |
| Showtime |
Lee Strasberg Institute |
| Universal Pictures, Universal Studios |
Warner Brothers Studio |
| Western Costume |
|
Have we got your attention? Have questions? What topics are covered? What skills are developed?
Call, email, schedule a visit to see us in action. Talk to us.
Leave a message: 323 953-4000 X2970
See Costume FAQ
How is all this possible?
No secret short-cuts—it takes hands-on, practical, experiential learning. Lab time is spent to develop skills needed for the mounting of live theatrical productions, the best training ground for a costume designer in any type of entertainment.
This is a highly selective and challenging course. Acceptance into the program is not a guarantee of continuance. From the initial interview and portfolio review, the student is constantly evaluated and challenged to meet and exceed standards. A student who cannot meet assignments while in constant production may be discontinued. The periodic evaluations are retained as source material to use in recommendations for future education and job applications.
At the completion of all the required program courses, the 2-year Professional Certificate for Theatrical Costuming is awarded. During the optional third-year program, the design student will concentrate on independent theater, film and video projects to advance the transition into the profession while utilizing the resources of the Academy.
A measure of the success of this intense, hands-on approach may be seen in our design majors' repeated advancement to the final round of the Television Academy's Summer Internship competition, including the 2018 winner, German Flores. This coveted award includes 3 2-week internships with television costume designers.
The Kennedy Center / American College Theatre Festival competition is another example of our costume design majors competing with design students from 4-year institutions or graduate studies. The overall national winner in 2018 was Christina Bayer from LACC Theatre Academy.
Many career opportunities are available to graduates of the program:
- Costume design: theater, film, video, commercial
- Apprenticing with an established designer
- Film, television, or video costuming, assisting, or wardrobe
- Costume shop or costume rental house, theme park, or cruise ship
See some of the jobs and opportunities Costume Graduates have gone on to.
Admission Application
IMPORTANT! Please read the Academy Frequently Asked Questions page before you complete an application.
Interested? Is this what you've been looking for? Check out the Sequence of Costume Classes.
Still interested? Visit the Theatre Academy Admission and Auditions page.
Call, email, or schedule a visit to see us in action.
COSTUME DESIGN PROGRAM
Eddie Bledsoe
bledsoje@laccd.edu