We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Melissa Karsh a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Melissa, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I was one of seven students accepted into the Advanced Theater Costume Design program at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM). Four scripts were chosen and each student had one character per play to design from head to toe. Those scripts were: Camelot, The Three Musketeers, Emperor Napoleon, and King Lear-set in the 25th century. After extensive research on the time periods, many ideation sketches, multiple test garments, and countless hours of sewing, creating head pieces, masks, accessories and historical garments; all of the work was featured in a four show run at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica California and broadcasted live on Youtube.

Melissa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Costume Designer for Television and Film in Los Angeles, California. I started out as a student at Colorado State University, studying Fashion Design where I graduated with a focus on couture sewing techniques and construction. I learned the art of couture when I studied abroad in Italy and was really exposed to high fashion and the art of corsetry, which became my specialty. I interned at Diesel in New York City, and upon graduating from college I worked in London with a fashion label – BuddhistPunk, who partnered with a couture/avante garde designer named Dr. Noki. It was a streetwear brand that hired Dr. Noki to cut up the last season’s collection and create something completely new and incredibly creative. It was so inspiring, but it made me realize I truly wanted to be working with corsets or in couture. I pursued some jobs in corsetry and then decided I wanted more. Instead of creating avant garde pieces of art that don’t necessarily have a lot of money in the profession, or going into fashion in which I had to follow the trends and make something that will sell; I wanted to help bring a character to life. So I went back to school at the Fashion Institute of design and merchandising (FIDM) in LA to learn about Theater Costume design. There I learned how to construct historical costumes, how to create headpieces and masks, furthered my illustration abilities, learned how to dye and paint fabrics, the art of aging/distressing, and how to breakdown scripts. While I was in school interned as a seamstress with a costume house- this particular one holds around 40,000 articles of clothing with costumes ranging from BC all the way up to present. I was doing alterations for costume rentals, repairing costumes and creating pieces from scratch from designers for tv and film. After graduating I was hired on for 9 months before my first real Hollywood job….. Being an intern for the costume department of Dr. Phil at Paramount studios. I would help with Dr. Phil’s costumer occasionally, but was mainly dressing the guests who appeared on the show. I learned so much about being on set, how to pull full looks together from head to toe and for every body type. I then became a Production Assistant for a “Supersuits” team that I worked hard to be a part of. I was enamored by the costume designer Laura Jean Shannon. Not only did she make incredible and functional Supersuits for DC comics- superheros and villains, but she was the most down to earth and relatable woman. Lucky for me, she became one of my mentors. After working with her and her team on 6 different superhero shows for a year and a half; she was the one who truly encouraged me to reach for the stars and go straight from the entry level position of Production Assistant to joining the union as an Assistant Costume Designer. I then was referred to an Indie Feature film to be their Costume Designer by the Assistant Come designer at Supersuits, and got the job! My designs were valued and picked by the directors and I was thrown in to be the head of the department and was off to to Tennessee for 6 weeks! After wrapping that film I then went on to design my second Indie Feature film that was then #1 on Netflix around the world- “The Social Dilemma.” I then joined the Union 892- The Costume Designer’s Guild, with only 3 years under my belt, as an Assistant Costume Designer. My first project in the Union was an ABC/Lionsgate show called “Home Economics”. I worked on that for 3 seasons, and learned from another Costume Designer- Kathryn Orindgreff who is not only a dear friend but another mentor of mine. I felt honored to help create these characters from the Pilot- the first episode, and carried it out for 3 seasons before it was cancelled due to the Hollywood strikes in 2023. I then went on to be the “Made to Order” Assistant Costume Designer for a Disney film called “The Rise of Red”- the 4th film out of a series called “The Descendants”. Made to order means that I was in charge of all of the costumes production, and almost every costume was built from scratch. This was a true dream come true and was putting my skills and expertise of garment construction to the test. I fell in love with my team with 75 people encompassing my whole department. It was the biggest role I have had yet. This film is set to release on Diseny+ in July of 2024. The Writer’s and Actor’s strikes took the entire industry out for over a year, as the rest of our unions stood by them in support for what they needed and deserved. During that time I was the Assistant Designer again to Kathryn Orindgreff for a theater reunion tour for “The State”- a sketch comedy show from MTV in the 90’s. I was head of the costume department on tour as we went around the US from September 2023- April 2024. Hollywood is finally starting to wake back up, and some exciting projects are on the horizon. I can’t wait to be able to share what is coming next.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I have had a lot of different jobs in fashion and costumes, and I have learned so much from each one of them. I also learned so much of what not to do from some pretty demanding bosses who made it very difficult to drag myself to work each day. I have learned that the energy of the project starts from the top and trickles its way down. When the people at the top are toxic, unpredictable and very reactive, it makes every task nerve racking. There were jobs that would give me anxiety, sometimes there were tears in the bathroom, everything would be met with anger/frustration, even challenges that were completely out of our control. I decided that I would NEVER make anyone feel the ways in which I was made to feel. I became the boss that chooses to laugh instead of cry in stressful situations, to respond instead of react, and one who is approachable and still respected. My energy as either the Costume Designer or the Assistant Costume designer holds a lot of space in the room, and as I said before, trickles down to the rest of the team. To be the head of a team, one must be organized, hard working, a multitasker, kind and humble. I continue to ask questions to the people on my team when I don’t know how to do something because I rose to the top quite quickly and I am appreciative for the people on my team who will teach me the things I don’t know and for not judging me for not knowing them. I want my team to be honest and upfront about mistakes or problems that arise so that we can come up with a solution and move forward. Often times my day is putting out fires and executing last minute and sometimes outrageous requests from Producers, Directors, and Actors. Not only do I NEED my team to make this possible, I as the boss need to be able to delegate and trust that the people on my team are fulfilling their own position and pulling their own weight. I have mentioned the hard bosses that I had, but I also have had incredible bosses and mentors who have shown me the positive attributes discussed above and reinstalled hope that our jobs in the Costume department can be done and executed even better when the environment is welcoming, understanding, hard working and fun.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had the confidence in college- at Colorado State University, to use the people around me who were experts and had knowledge of what I was studying, to the fullest. Those resources were my professors, and the famous Fashion Designers that I met at fashion events. They know the business, they have experience, and they are the people you want to surround yourself with. When I decided to go back to school at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) to study Theater Costume Design, I was 26. I went to school purely out of choice to further my education, and my entire focus was to grow and push myself to be the best designer possible. I had already studied Fashion design in undergrad, so I had a very strong basis to my learning at FIDM. Every project I had, I would make it something new, something even more challenging then the assignment before. I would go into every offered “office hours”- where you can go in to ask the teacher questions for 3 hours a week with their full attention to those who show up. I would do my homework and ask questions along the way, video taping techniques they were showing me and demos that they would give during our 6 hour studio classes. I then brought this realization that the people around me were my biggest resource, to work when I started my career in the costume department for television and film. I would ask questions whenever I didn’t know how to do things, and listened and appreciated when the costumers and the incredible craftsman would take the time to explain anything to me. And not only did that supply my with an abundant amount of knowledge across all areas of my line of work, but it helped me grow and create relationships with people who saw my potential. They saw my eagerness to learn, my positive attitude, and the respect I had for the expertise. They have helped create the Designer I am today. I continue to work with them, and get referrals from them to other Designers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.Melissakarsh.com
• Instagram: @Melissakarshdesigns

Image Credits

Photographer: Mark Jaress
Home Economics ABC/Lionsgate