Bio:

Izzy Kitch is a trans non-binary MFA Costume Design Candidate originally from Raleigh North Carolina.

Izzy has a BFA in Drama with a concentration in Costume Design from The University of North Carolina Greensboro (2020) and an Associates in Specialized Business with a concentration in Special Makeup Effects and Puppetry from the Douglas Education Center; Tom Savini’s Special Makeup Effects program in Monessen Pennsylvania (2018).

Costume design to Izzy is a way to create fully authentic characters through the emotional storytelling of clothing. Building a character from the ground up and truly understanding how they present themselves to the world as well as to themselves this is the  approach that makes Izzy the most excited about designing costumes. Being able to connect to the natural instincts of a character or creature and bring their authentic spirit to life through research and detail is how Izzy has approached their costume designs while here at CMU. Whether it was creating a visual language of futuristic, dystopian, queer fashion in “Babel” where they also had the opportunity to design an 8’ wearable stork puppet; Or telling the Electra story through a queer punk lens in “i think i’m starting to want to be a mother” where they used historical fashion easter eggs and a deep textural language to show the pain in this family through the clothes on their backs. 

Beyond costume design Izzy is a multi-faceted theater artist who specializes in wig construction and ventilation, costume crafts, mold making, carpentry, sculpting, special makeup effects and painting.

Izzy is also passionate about theater as an educational tool and is currently working on their masters thesis which focuses on theatre as a vehicle for education specifically when dealing with forest conservation through the reimagining of the animated movie “Ferngully: the last Rainforest.”