NYWIFT Member Spotlight
Behind-the-scenes with Costume Designer Ornella Chiossone
– by Margarita Cortes
Through the power of social media, I was contacted by an up and coming costume designer, Ornella Chiossone, who was working on a film project in Brooklyn. She met me on the first day of production inside the trailer, nestled between the wardrobe she coordinated for an independent feature film production in Williamsburg. There we began our conversation on her creative process, her favorite projects and her international fashion background.
Ornella’s journey to Brooklyn as a costume designer was an interesting one. Born in Venezuela, Ornella says she always loved fashion and film. She lived in Paris and Madrid for 5 year prior to coming to America. Overseas she worked in photography, advertising and PR for fashion. She also worked for the Spanish fashion designer, Agatha Ruiz de La Prada. “Her designs are very bright, fun and very elaborate.” Boy, she wasn’t kidding – check out these incredible runway shots from 2015.
Ornella found herself wanting more and after exhausting all of her resources in Spain, she flew across the ocean for the big apple. “I love Brooklyn, there are always things going on!” She quickly landed a fashion PR job in NYC and was sent to a film shoot, where she found herself immediately drawn to the wardrobe department. Surrounded by amazing costume pieces, she found her calling to work in fashion, costumes, cameras and behind the scenes.
Ornella contacted the Director right away and asked if she could help in any capacity on the film. Eventually she stayed working as a production assistant and helped out in the wardrobe department. Her ambition grew fast and after a couple of production assistant jobs, she was signed on as an official costume designer. “That’s what I love about NY” she gleefully shared with me, “everywhere you go on a film shoot, you meet people and then from there, you just get started.”
After meeting with the film director and reading the script Ornella says she gets her best creative ideas while riding the MTA subway lines. “I took a picture of a character on the subway and then showed the look to the director and we worked from there.” All together, it took about two weeks for the creative process and one week to pull clothes and after 20 days of shooting she’s off to her next project: “I’ll be working on a television pilot in Long Island!”
Through our conversations, I introduced her to New York Women in Film & Television and she joined right away in hopes to continue building her career among a network of industry leaders..
She was excited to hear about the workshops, programs and the Designing Women Gala, which honors women in her field. “I can’t wait to celebrate a fantastic evening among my new fellow NYWIFT members!”
Ornella joined NYWIFT in May 2015, just wrapped up an indie film project and available now for your next project. She can be reached directly on Twitter @ornechio and Instagram @ornechioss.
*NYWIFT Fall Membership drive has begun! Join New York Women in Film & Television now and take advantage of all the benefits. From now until Dec 1, take 50% off the initiation fee.
Apply here: http://www.nywift.org/join
