My Story

Since my childhood I can remember being interested in costumes. During high school, I discovered Sci-fi and anime conventions and with the help of my grandma made my first costume. In college, I decided to pursue a Costume Production BFA at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts. It was there I began to learn the skills that would lead me to my future career as a costume craft artisan. I combined the knowledge of my degree with the new, alternative ways of crafting that were constantly being discovered by the burgeoning cosplay community. Through my love of the craft, I have been able to support myself through my art most of my adult life. First by taking commissions in the cosplay community, followed by a successful career in professional theatre, since 2013.

   I began my costume career as a wardrobe assistant for A Christmas Carol  at the Children’s theatre of Madison (my hometown). Through connections I made there I was able to move to Los Angeles and spent the next two years working at the LA Opera as a Crafts Assistant, and freelance gigs as a designer on short films and music videos. While in California I also worked as a craft assistant at The Old Globe.   In 2015 I was hired as the costume crafts artisan/dyer at the Seattle Rep, and moved north to the Pacific Northwest. Being the head craft artisan and dyer at the Rep is a dream job, I am able to make art every day and use my skills to bring designers visions to life, while adding my own signature style and technique. During my time at the Rep I have been fortunate to have played a part in the beginning of many ambitious and critically acclaimed projects such as: Come From Away (2015 &2025), Here Lies Love (2017), Appropriate (2026), In the Heights (2021), Fat Ham (2024), The Play that Goes Wrong (2025), Vietgone (2016), and  Primary Trust (2024) To name a few.

               When Covid-19 hit in the middle of our 2019/2020 season like so many others my career vanished with no hope of returning anytime soon. In the beginning I was able to assist a coalition of  costume shops to produce masks when PPE was running low. After that ended, I was filled with a passion to design for the first time in a long time. I decided to channel what I was feeling during these times into a collection of hats; that can be seen on the Millinery page.  I was able to sell hats across the country and get by through those tumultuous times while still practicing my art. I also was able to make a hat for the legendary rapper E-40 for his part in aStar Wars themed music video by the legendary rap group Mt. Westmore. I was able to return to work at Seattle Rep in 2022 and have continued to work on so many fun productions. In addition I have also done extensive dye work for the Pacific Northwest Ballet (Seasons Canon, Sleeping Beauty) The Miami Ballet, and millinery work for Union Arts center. I also got to return to some design work for Valve Software in a short film Twisted Sisters featuring characters from the video game DOTA. I have also had the opportunity to work with Riot Games to make leather armor for their character  debut of K’Sante designed by Laura Christina Ortiz.

I am currently based in Seattle where I live with my wife Cati and dog Frisby. I am open for professional craft, dye and design work. Please email me at roberts0brent@gmail.com to inquire about commission rates.

 -Brent