On March 12, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) published its 2022 list for the “Top 10 Costume Design Schools in the US,” with CalArts among the ranking.
This year’s THR listing highlights how CalArts’ is exploring new avenues for costume design through cross-pollination of several schools and programs. From THR:
Animation and digital have opened a new field for costume designers, resulting in the costume in animation course. Says Ellen McCartney, director of experience design and production, “We treat the school as a big studio where students come to find their voice as a designer. They are challenged by projects, productions, and new ways of thinking that have no known solutions and must work their way through a problem, whether it is theoretical or practical. It is one of the very few art Institutes that includes the performing arts of theater, music, and dance under one roof.”
Bacchae | Photo courtesy of Alejandro Caminos/CalArts School of Theater 
The Water Station | Photo courtesy of Alejandro Caminos/School of Theater 
The Fig and the Wasp | Photo courtesy of Alejandro Caminos/CalArts School of Theater 
Marabella | Photo courtesy of Alejandro Caminos/CalArts School of Theater
Some notable alums mentioned in the article were Ariel Boroff (Theater MFA 10) of Station 19, Sandra Burns (Theater MFA 04) of Last Man on Earth, and Marco Morante (Theater BFA 02), who has worked with Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, and Shakira. THR’s listing showcased a photo of the cast of CalArts’ School of Theater fall 2021 production of When Five Years Pass, directed by School of Theater faculty Kalean Ung and starring members of the BFA 2 acting class.
Other colleges and universities selected by The Hollywood Reporter (in alphabetical order) are:
- Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh
- David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, New Haven, Connecticut
- Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Los Angeles
- New York University TISCH School of the Arts, New York City
- Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia
- UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Los Angeles
- University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri
- University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Winston Salem, North Carolina
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles
- Wimbledon College of the Arts, University of the Arts, London (bonus international school)
Learn more about the Costume Design Program at CalArts.
