Hello, I'm Katie Dowse​
International Costume Designer

​​I was born in England, but I've since lived on both coasts of the U.S. as well as Australia. I've had the good fortune to meet and work with people from all over the world. Through my costumes I plan on continuing to enrich such connections through visual storytelling. 

During my Bachelors degree at Pitzer College, I earned honors for my Theatre Design major and my steampunk Threepenny Opera thesis production. I also majored in Environment and Ecology, with a thesis delving into the sociological balance between humans, animals, and their environments. I believe one can never stop looking at the larger picture, but to understand the mechanisms of the world we must look at individual relationships. This theory holds true with how I approach theatre and my costume designs. 

In 2014, I completed an M.F.A. in Costume Design at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Before moving to London, I spent a year in California, where I worked as the Assistant Shop Manager for Center Rep and continued freelancing as a Costume Designer. While there I designed a production of Godspell and the Bay Area Premiere of Heathers: The Musical. After three years in London and two summers at Maine State Music Theatre, I spent six months exploring Australia.

The West Coast Premiere of American Psycho in San Francisco brought me back to the U.S. in 2019, followed by a year as Visiting Professor of Costume Design at Illinois Wesleyan University. In 2020, I became Assistant Professor of Costume Design at CSU Dominguez Hills in Los Angeles. In 2023, I moved to northern California to be Assistant Professor of Costume Design at Santa Clara University.

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​Additional Interests
3D Printing, draping, cutting, patterning, dyeing, painting, baking and cake decorating, behaviorology, and traveling.

[email protected]
@KatieCostumes