Mirela Rupic

Mirela Rupic is a well-known costume designer from Fullerton, California. She started her career as a fashion designer but soon after graduating from RISD she started creating costumes for films and TV series.

Biography

Famous California’s costume designer Mirela Rupic was born on March 21, 1967 in Orange County, California. She studied stage and costume design at the Woodbury University in San Diego. Rupic worked in most prestigious theaters in USA, exhibited her creations all over the world and presented her works at the most prominent universities. She created costumes for more than 150 plays, operas, ballets, films and TV shows.

Artistic Approach

Mirela Rupic has always enjoyed drawing and painting, and when she has to choose what she’s going to study, she couldn’t decide between architecture and art. ‘I was an only child and I always wanted to be surrounded by people. I had a lot of friends and I thought that I would be good in a team work. I thought of a theater as of a big family, and decided to dedicate myself on costume design - Rupic explains how she became a costume designer.

In Opera

Rupic adds that in her long career she completely dedicated herself in her first opera play - a large project of 420 costumes.

Stage Costumes

Stage costume has its own parameters which must be followed - those are director’s concept, characters, lights, choreography etc. There are some elements that must be seen at the stage, and at the same time, the costume designer must not lose his authentic stage signature. It is like a trademark which is recognized on the scene - explains Mirela.

Theater and Movies

Mirela Rupic says that she admired the world-renowned costume designers just like everyone else, but when it comes to the creation of stage costumes, she learned a lot from set designers and other colleagues in the theater. As she explains, for a costume designer it is equally interesting to work on costumes for operas. - There are no specific rules in costume design for theater or opera plays. I love to work on fashion costumes because they give you an opportunity to show your imagination and inventiveness. And the singers also find their costumes very important. They give them a confidence and ability to complete their identification with the role.