Shirley Pierson

Shirley is passionate about the life of a costume, and clearly understands the power the costume possesses.  When designed correctly, the costume supports story and provides clarification, as well as sparks creative imagination for the actor wearing it, the company members performing around it and the audience member viewing it! 

Character development and production support within the costume are two of her design strengths.  She prides herself in engineering textiles and garments in clever ways to solve challenging production requirements.  She considers strong, purposeful  lines and texture her design tools of choice.   Bold collaborative team choices invigorate her work.  

Shirley bases her award-winning costume design business from San Diego, California.  She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theatrical Arts and Technical Design from San Diego State University and is a member of USA 829.  

Contact her at:  sjpierson1@gmail.com

Education:

M.F.A.   San Diego State University, Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Arts

B.A.       University of San Diego, Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts, summa cum laude

Shirley’s life-journey has taken her through the many possible lives of a garment.  Her journey began in the retail world as a garment buyer and merchandiser for J.W. Robinson’s dept. stores, head-quartered in Los Angeles.  After several years exploring the life of a garment in retail, she moved to manufacturing, becoming a textile buyer and merchandiser for several “on trend” clothing manufacturers in Los Angeles, including the labels Rampage and Laundry by Shelli Segal.  She traveled in search of and to develop that next “got to have textile”, print patterns and color palettes to accommodate the designing of each new collection.  During her time in manufacturing, she began a freelance business designing children’s clothing and art-work for screen printing fabrics to construct the children’s garments from.   During her journey through the many aspects of a garment’s life, she discovered a real love for the garment itself and what it alone was capable of doing.