Meet award winning theatre set and costume designer, Thando Lobese.

Having worked on a number of different productions with a range of different international directors, Lobese has traveled far and wide to fulfill her love for the arts within theatre.
She has travelled to Stockholm Stadstheater, in Sweden under the mentorship of highly acclaimed international designer, Charles Koroly as a design apprentice.

In addition to this, her plays have been performed and staged in many countries around the globe such as Austria, Germany, Belgium, England and Swaziland.
With so much comprehensive experience as a costume creative, what does Lobese’s role as a costume designer really entail? Let’s find out.
First off, Lobese’s craft process begins with the familiarization of the script and with that, the characters that define the play or film.

In conducting her research, Lobese will talk to the directors and characters to get a better understanding of the context, tone and themes of the story. From there, she will conduct even further research through various internet sources on the fashion history of the production’s time period which requires great attention to detail and focus.
Therefore, much like a fashion designer, costume designers need to really possess a love for garment construction and the history of fashion.
However, the differentiating factor between a fashion and costume designer is that costume designers are required to create more long lasting clothing that can endure the test of time after many wears through various production rehearsals and practices.

Lobese would then proceed to compile a board containing different mood images and pattern swatches of the designer’s vision for the costumes. From there, she will curate a costume plot containg all the characters along with their progressive costume evolutions throughout the play taking into account their status, age as well as dramatic purpose they serve.
Once the costume plot has been signed off, Lobese will go ahead and start constructing and producing the costumes  where she will make additional alterations as the characters adapt their outfits in making them their own.

So while it is true that the life of a costume designer may be magical, as they bring characters and productions to life, the job also requires a great deal of work and attention to detail should they  intend for this magic to work.
Stay up to date with all things creative @sacreatives