Costume designers reshaping Australian theatre today
For too long, costume design has lived in the shadows of set construction and lighting. When audiences leave Belvoir St Theatre raving about a performance, the textile artistry behind the actors rarely gets a mention in the program. Yet across Australia, a new generation of designers is proving that what characters wear shapes the soul of a show as much as any line of dialogue.
These are the makers who study period silhouettes at the State Library of Victoria's reading rooms, pull fabric swatches from suppliers tucked between theatres in Parramatta and Fitzroy, and build characters from the skin inward. Three names deserve a place on every theatre lover's radar, each representing a different city, scale, and sensibility in the nation's sprawling live-performance landscape.
Why costume matters more than ever
The modern Australian stage has grown more ambitious over the past decade, with Sydney Theatre Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, and companies from Brisbane to Perth producing works that span centuries and continents. Costume designers carry the weight of historical accuracy, cultural sensitivity, and visual storytelling at the same time. A single gown can signal wealth, modesty, rebellion, or grief before an actor speaks a word.
Anyone wanting to understand the craft's lineage can browse the vintage wardrobe archives to see how designers across the decades solved similar problems. Those lessons still apply on stages that tour from Adelaide to Cairns, where humidity, quick changes, and hand-washing in backstage sinks shape every wardrobe decision.
Genevieve Lascelles: Sydney's bold pattern-maker
Working from a workshop near Surry Hills, Genevieve Lascelles has become known for fearless colour and texture in contemporary drama. Her recent work for a Sydney Theatre Company revival drew on archival research and modern streetwear, layering silk kimonos with second-hand denim sourced from Paddy's Markets.
Lascelles treats every brief as a starting point for reinvention, sketching directly onto calico before cutting final patterns. She speaks openly about how the rigours of Australian musical theatre shaped her ability to design for speed and sweat, from quick-change demands of touring jukebox shows to the scale of arena productions. An upcoming collaboration with a Bondi-based independent company promises to push her collage style even further.
Tobias Price: Melbourne's quiet innovator
Across the border in Melbourne, Tobias Price has built a reputation through work with Malthouse Theatre and the independent houses clustered around Southbank. Where Lascelles goes loud, Price goes subtle: muted naturals, hand-stitched hems, and pieces that age visibly across a single performance through calculated distressing.
Price trained in printmaking before pivoting to costume, and that background shows in the painterly layering of his fabrics. He sources deadstock textiles from clearance houses in Brunswick and frequently collaborates with First Nations artists on pieces reflecting contemporary Australian identity. A return engagement at a flagship Melbourne production this winter should bring his work to a wider audience.
Adelaide's festival-season sensation
Each February, the Adelaide Fringe transforms the city into a sprawling creative lab, and it is here that the next designer worth watching has emerged. Working from a converted church hall off Rundle Street, this designer has dressed Fringe hits spanning cabaret, drag-inflected Shakespeare, and immersive dance.
What sets this work apart is a willingness to mix hire-stock pieces from local costumiers with custom-built components crafted over long summer evenings. The pieces feel handmade in the best sense, visibly stitched by someone who knows the show intimately. Catch the work in any sold-out Fringe run, or look out for next year's festival programme.
Comparing the three
Across these designers, patterns emerge that any theatre lover can track. All three blend archival research with modern reinvention, name-check smaller independent venues as training grounds, and credit regional touring constraints as shaping how they build. The quick comparison below helps when scanning festival programs or company websites for upcoming projects worth attending.
Use this guide as a starting point, then dig into the designers' process notes and interviews. Each has a strong online presence where fittings, fabric tests, and sourcing trips are shared in real time.
| Designer | Base city | Signature style | Recent work | Where to see next |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genevieve Lascelles | Sydney | Bold colour, layered textures | Sydney Theatre Company revival | Bondi independent production |
| Tobias Price | Melbourne | Muted naturals, distressing | Malthouse Theatre collaborations | Winter flagship in Melbourne |
| Festival designer | Adelaide | Mix of hire-stock and custom | Adelaide Fringe cabaret and dance | 2025 Adelaide Festival |
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