Costume Designer Danielle Nieves on bringing Characters to Life

When Seattle-based costume designer and theater artist Danielle Nieves was a kid, her abuela taught her to sew. So Nieves put those skills to use making costumes for fun.

“I had minimal exposure to theatre growing up,” Nieves said, “and I had no idea that costume design was an entire field of study and a career path.”

Years later, when she went to undergrad at Middlebury College, she attended a student event and was introduced to a class called “Costume design.” The class, Nieves recalled, “turned out to be the perfect combination of my love for sewing and drawing.” Nieves credited professor Jule Emerson, saying, “Without her, I never would have gotten into this field or known how exciting and varied the world of costume design can be.”

Nieves went on to receive her BA in Theater Design from Middlebury, and later her MFA in Costume Design from the university of California, Irvine. Now, her designs have been seen on stages around the country, from companies like Seattle Rep in her home city to Minneapolis’s Children’s Theatre Company, where she’s currently working as costume designer for the bilingual Go, Dog. Go! • Ve Perro ¡Ve! (Jan. 20-Feb. 22, 2026). Nieves is also looking forward to May,when The 5th Avenue Theatre’s Jesus Christ Superstar (May 2-17, 2026), wiht costumes designed by Nieves, will take the Seattle stage.

“I’m excited for the challenge of designing these larger-than-life, mythic figures,” Nieves said, “and finding ways to fuse both a timeless and contemporary quality into their costumes.”

Earlier this month, I had a chance to check in with Nieves about her work, her inspir