Kyla Little’s childhood dream was to be in front of a camera and be an actor. That dream completely changed in when finding a job on her University campus in North Carolina, at the costume shop.

“The head of department suggested I work on campus and I immediately fell in love. The process completely fascinated me and I loved every aspect of making a costume.

“From concept, research, design, making and putting it on stage, there was not a part of the process I didn’t love or want to learn more about.”

Kyla said she’d originally come to Western Carolina University to further her acting career, but she ended up spending the majority of her degree in that custom shop, honing her craft as a designer. She then built her portfolio, spending a year on a cruise ship as a Wardrobe Assistant for an off-Broadway show “After Midnight”.

“The costumes for that were incredible, designed and built by the late fashion designer Isabel Toledo. These costumes inspired me to continue on my path to become a fashion designer, but I knew I needed to push myself further. I then started applying to graduate programs.” 

Studying in America:

To expand her knowledge in design, she enrolled in a Costume Design Master’s program at the University of South Carolina in 2020.

“I was mentored by Kirsty Hall, an award winning custom designer that had designed costumes for Woody Harrelson amongst many other successful actors. It was there I honed my love for design for film and TV.

In my first film, “Holy Irresistible” I was Kirsty’s assistant. By the next summer, I had booked my first feature film as the head costume designer on the film “HERO”, directed by Dustin Whitehead, which is still my favourite project I’ve worked on till today. I went on to assist Molly Morgan on the films “You, Me and That Mountain Retreat” and “The Love Hunt”, and “A Christmas Vintage”, which have aired on various American TV channels and “A Christmas Vintage” is currently on  Amazon Prime. By the end of my graduate degree, I had built a big enough portfolio to begin freelancing.” 

Relocating:

After graduating, she relocated to the UK in August 2023. Kyla found some difficulty in completely resetting her creative networking bubble. She started her freelancing organisation Little Designs, working on three short films, and a feature film, “Idiots Anonymous”.

She hasn’t just designed in front of a camera, but on the stage as well. In the UK she worked for two theatre productions, “Fame! Jr” and “Sorry, Wrong Chimney”. Alongside that, Kyla has done work for major production companies such as Talent Artist Group. Kyla has found that there are huge differences designing for the camera, or designing for theatre.

“To quote one of my toughest and most inspiring grad school professors, Valerie Pruitt, when speaking about our millinery projects, she always stated, “it has to be film quality.” What she meant by this, is that the camera holds no secrets. There has to be a precise level of importance placed on the details and the quality.

The same goes for theatre, but in a more exaggerated sense. You have to make things bigger, more visible and over the top. The people at the back of the theatre need to see the colours, texture, silhouette. You can have a few dodgy seams on the inside of a costume that is only seen from audience members 20 feet away. It doesn’t work so well if the camera is 6 inches away.”

Moving to the UK:

Though she moved from the States, the industry over there still impacts job markets in the UK.

“I moved in the middle of the writer strikes in America, and I had no idea how big of an impact it would have on the UK Film and TV industry. As I learned, a lot of the media in the UK is America owned and operated. I am planning on living in the UK long term, I’m now a part of a filmmaking community in southern England, where the push is to get more filming to the south, hire local people, and create more independent film projects in the UK overall.

“I’m finding as well that there’s a greater emphasis on costume making in the UK compared to the States. There’s an incredibly high standard of costume construction and loads of talented makers all across the country.”

Working in the world of costume design for five years now, Kyla knows that it comes with risk. With most people freelancing, the lack of job security is always looming. It’s particularly apparent for aspiring costume designers.

Final advice:

“Keep working. Keep pushing. Keep creating, no matter how big or small it seems. There will be a lot of no’s and a lot of rejections. To be a Costume Designer, you have to face the realities of being a Freelancer and a Sole Trader and that is simply not easy. You have to have a lot of passion, determination, and resilience. At the end of the day, if you’re able to make what you love to do your career, then you are luckier than 80% of the population.”

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