Chloe Ji Yoon

Chloe Ji Yoon

When Chloe Ji Yoon MA '05 was in elementary school in rural Due south Korea, paper dolls were in fashion. Yoon, in 5th course, drew 50 dissimilar costumes for her paper doll, and sold them to friends — at a cost seven times more expensive than shop-bought versions. They sold because, fifty-fifty equally an elementary student, Yoon had boggling skill every bit a designer and illustrator.

This precocious marketing effort was a hint at Yoon's determination to practice whatsoever it took to become a costume designer. Her path has taken zigs and zags to fashion design and teaching, merely her career of selection got a huge heave when she was an assistant costume designer on Black Panther, working for Ruth Carter. Carter won the 2018 Academy Award for the film'due south innovative and scrupulously-researched costumes.

Yoon had worked for Carter on several earlier, smaller projects before Yoon married and moved back to Korea in 2015. On the day Carter posted on Facebook that she had gotten the Blackness Panther job, she messaged Yoon and told her "I need you lot. I got this huge job."

Yoon was teaching a full load at Sungshin University in Seoul (mode design, illustration, fabrics, sustainable mode and fashion history), but she was determined to have the assignment no matter what.

"During my winter suspension, I did all the concept piece of work," Yoon remembers, conferring with Carter via Skype. A central scene in the film takes place in a Korean casino. "I knew all the accurate styles, and I got skilful response from the managing director and producers."

In all, Yoon spent two months working on Blackness Panther, including filming in Korea for three weeks. Carter spent most 7 months, Yoon says, which seems similar a fraction of the time that would exist required to create more than 700 detailed costumes that drew and then heavily on multiple cultural influences.

"Merely that's costume design," says Yoon. "It is a lot of work and research."

Information technology was Yoon's pinnacle portfolio that caught the attention of the late Ritchie M. Spencer, the USC School of Dramatic Art'due south longtime director of production and head of costume design. Yoon had graduated from the private Kookmin University in Seoul with a degree in fashion design, had applied at USC for graduate school, but then thought she wanted to be in New York Urban center and spent a yr studying at The Manner Institute of Technology. Realizing the advantage of being in Los Angeles, the middle of the pic industry, and at a university with both a potent costume design plan and hundreds of flick students, she emailed the School to run across if it was nonetheless interested in her. Spencer asked to encounter her portfolio, and the deal was sealed.

Yoon especially remembers learning from stage designer Don Llewellyn (at present an emeriti faculty member) and Howard Schmitt, who manages the costume shop.

She designed costumes for Euripides' Women of Troy, and built the elaborate costumes for the main characters for Les Liaisons Dangereuses in ane month. Her thesis projection was the costumes for the Irish play, The Playboy of the Western Globe.

"I dear historic costume," says Yoon. "But I also similar fantasy and sci-fi."

Although Yoon hopes to work again in Los Angeles shortly, she has been decorated in Korea. She produced a nine-week massive open online grade on film costume design, has adult a new in-person course for her university in moving-picture show manner design, organized a fashion show in Beijing for 40 students and worked as a costume artist on a Korean flick set in 1920 that won the film's costumer the equivalent of a Korean Oscar.

She credits USC for providing her manufacture start. "USC gave a pocket-sized girl from the East a adventure to written report something she's e'er dreamed about and made her strong plenty to fight in the jungle of the movie industry," she observes. "Fifty-fifty if I always wanted to work in film, my theatre training made me a stronger designer. So grateful for that! I'k really hoping I can brand the USC name proud someday."

Note to Yoon: That day is already here.

This story appeared in the 2019-xx Callboard mag.