Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lutavia Cosplay. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Lutavia, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I was very fortunate to have my curious nature cultivated and encouraged through art classes and design and programming classes, and my degree in school (Computer Science) sort of harnessed that. I did an undergrad thesis, and it really taught me the value of research: how to search, how to follow threads, where to look, who to ask. I extended that into my cosplay field, and it’s by far the most valuable tool because this field is all about taking what’s been done before–a design–and interpreting it into reality under whatever constraints we choose. The value of being able to discover the name of a technique and search it down to its core is absolutely critical.

I honestly believe nothing beats experience as far as learning “faster”–you just have to do and try things–but I do believe learning early on not only to research but to sample things on a small scale before diving in is helpful. Some people said I was quite smart, bold, or silly to take such large projects on early as my first ones, but I genuinely think I would not be as fearless as I am in my builds if I hadn’t.

At the same time, I now had to overcome the obstacle of making costumes that were visually “smaller” but were much neater, more logistically sound–challenging in a different way–versus the traditional “scaling up” most cosplayers do, say from thrifted and altered pieces to massive, multi-layered builds. It was easy for me to feel as if I was “downgrading” from afar, but I knew up close with every costume, the cleanliness and thoughtfulness exponentially increased.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a nonbinary cosplayer and maker, primarily focusing on cosplay education, based out of Texas. Of course most people know about cosplayers from comic cons and things like that, and the fact that a lot of costumes are bought and some are made. And though some cosplayers focus on modeling or crafting elaborate costumes and taking beautiful photos, my aim is a bit different.

I focus not only on teaching how to make costumes for yourself, but also using what you have to make something that fits your lifestyle. Whether your budget is $20 or $2,000, if you work full time or have all the time in the world, art background or not, dealing with chronic illness or health alongside making–I think no matter what restraints you have, there’s space to explore and participate in this hobby, but especially to enter it creatively and to make something you’re proud of.

I primarily offer workshops and panels to conventions of pretty much any genre–so, aforementioned comic conventions, anime conventions, things like that–with a focus exclusively on cosplay creation. I also offer things like contest judging, cosplay repair and advice booths, etc. Virtually, I’ve created tutorials or promotional photoshoots and reviews for products provided to me as well. My most common question is usually how to start cosplay altogether, but besides that, I also do a lot of 1-1 help and share build threads, small tutorials, and document projects I’m working on in an effort to help others avoid mistakes like I made!

What defines me as a maker besides the aforementioned education piece is most likely the fact my costumes tell a story. I recently asked people who followed me what my “trademark” was, and a lot of people mentioned the education part, but they also pointed out rich use of textures, storytelling, smart logistics, and intricate weathering and distressing–which I agree with! I love to build realistic, grounded interpretations of some wild stuff, and I think it’s all the better when the costume is functional for the wearer, so they can enjoy the day and not only last an hour in it.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative?

For me, I can’t really describe the elation that I feel when someone says that one of my tutorials or build threads helped them in some way. I’ve actually had multiple cosplayers use one of them to make their own versions of the same character, all based on the documentation I shared, and I cried when I read the direct messages, honestly!

I’ve also had people recognize me at conventions, rush up to me, and gush about how they had been following my threads for months and they were so, so thrilled to see the costume in person. One person I remember was really fascinated by how I had rigged some LEDs, and I could clearly see the lightbulb moment in their head as they saw it in person and talked about how that would be such a good idea for their own next cosplay.

I know a lot of people get an absolute thrill out of winning a contest, for example, but I think for me, this is absolutely the pinnacle of a reward I could get in my particular flavor of cosplaying: my resources helping someone, in some big or small way, make something of their own.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

So, to be totally fair, this is changing for the better and for the worse in some aspects, but–I think a lot of non-cosplayers sort of look at our hobby and are quite curious about it. When I was single, it was probably the most asked question on dates, absolutely. At conventions, we’re plastered all over the marketing, conventions love to advertise with us, people love to take photos with us! And yet a lot of people like to say a lot of not-so-great things online and off: “I like your costume, but I hated your character!” “Oh, you’re the canon version of this character, not like so-and-so” “You should have won that contest, your costume was obviously the best” “Why don’t you have your prop?!” and so on.

This seems so basic, but, people don’t really realize there’s a person underneath the costume, it’s not the character, and we’re also not “free entertainment”. And whether the costume is bought or made or something in between, the person there has strong feelings about their character, or their hard work, and any number of things. I think if people were more respectful–just look, don’t touch without asking, don’t assume the cosplayer IS the character, just say something nice–I think that would be life-changing for a lot of us.

Almost all of us are unpaid, doing this because we love it, walking around cons in hot, itchy wigs and burning up in costumes, and yet we’re still smiling, and a “hey, you look fantastic, your costume is amazing” seriously rules when you’re used to not-so-nice things being said–it makes it worth it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lutaviacosplay.com/
• Instagram: LutaviaCosplay
• Twitter: LutaviaCosplay

Image Credits
PHOTOGRAPHER LIST: Meteion (Final Fantasy XIV), Great Lord Dimitri (Fire Emblem: 3 Houses), Shieldmaiden Brigitte (Overwatch): Jonathan Vilches (IG: j.a.vilches); Crystal Exarch (Final Fantasy XIV), Bela (Resident Evil 8): yinyuephoto (IG) San (Princess Mononoke): Mehreen Rizvi (IG: mehreen_rizvi) Male Viera (Final Fantasy XIV): Alexandria Norado (IG: allienoradophotog)