The Commonwealth Games came to Glasgow this summer, with teams from across the world competing around the city. But it wasn’t just sport on offer – the opening and closing ceremonies offered a chance to showcase Scotland as the host nation: and two alumni from ECA’s BA (Hons) Performance Costume were on the team creating opening ceremony costumes.
Tatyana Hanson Stevenson-Oake graduated from the programme in 2019, and Izzy Jones-Rigby in 2022. We caught up with Izzy to find out more about the experience.
Since graduating, she has worked at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, toured to the West End and Royal Shakespeare Company, and more recently has focused on TV and film work, including Highlander. She said the Commonwealth Games opportunity had arisen from previous work in the industry: “I had worked with this particular costume designer/supervisor duo, Carole Millar and Dani Lambie, once before as the costume trainee on a television show in February. They contacted me for this role as I had previous theatre and ceremonies experience, and so could give my perspective as they work more in the TV/film world.”
Izzy said she wasn’t just involved in making the costumes – she was very much hands-on throughout the show: “I did a range of jobs in this role. On top of buying costume elements, fabrics, and haberdashery for the makers, I also made elements, assisted with fittings and alterations, along with documenting and keeping up with my portion of the provided budget.
“When it came to the actual dress and show days, I, along with the whole team, dressed over 400 people, and later, de-rigged them. It was definitely an ‘all hands on deck’ ten weeks. The team pushed to make sure that the costumes did the ceremony and Glasgow justice. There was a lot of problem-solving and more logistics than you would think, but there were some really creative moments that made it all worthwhile.”
Izzy said she had felt incredibly proud to see her work come to life at the Hydro on 26 July: “It was lovely seeing all the effort and thought put into everything we did. We really wanted to show the fun and community-driven sides of Glaswegian and Scottish culture. I was backstage for the actual show and de-rigging the ‘first beat’ of performers by the time the show was in full swing, but we were able to see the live stream on a television in the changing space. The dancers and performers were spectacular; they truly brought Carole's designs to life.”
Izzy said her time at ECA had given her strong skills to take into the industry, and that her degree had: “helped with thinking creatively, being able to take feedback and pivot to suit the client and the needs of the show”. She’s now looking forward to gaining more experience in film and television, is designing a dance show for November, and has been accepted onto the Body Remedy Artist Residency.
