About
Mia Gyzander
Born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden where she worked in the fashion industry. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career in costuming. She began at Universal Studios, Hollywood in 1996, where she was in charge of the Beetlejuice show for several years. A few years later, she started her own costume shop with one stitcher and grew her business to more than 20 employees. The shop began building costumes for theme parks, live theater, television, film and the music industry.
Global Collaborations
The shop worked with many Theme parks around the world, such as Universal Studios, Disney, Six Flags and others, producing hundreds of costumes over decades. The Broadway production of Wicked approved the shop to reproduce the costumes for a shorter version of the show for Universal Studios Japan. The team worked closely with the Broadway headquarters of Wicked to ensure that the look was nearly identical to the original production.
Costumes for Iconic Artists
Creating costumes for the Music industry has included both music videos and live shows for artists such as Lady Gaga, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Snoop Dogg, Maroon 5, Jon Bon Jovi, Y’CLIFF, and Ozomatli. Costumes have been created for both the artists and in some cases their back up singers and dancers. There were often tight deadlines and last minute changes, as the industry demands.
Horror Film Costuming
The shop had its share of horror movies over the years, creating elaborate character costumes with a wide variety of materials and themes. From period to fantasy, everything from the doll dresses in the Annabelle movies to coats for demonic spirits was created.
Historic Wardrobe Design
Nearly a hundred Elizabethan costumes were designed and constructed for the Venetian Hotel in Macao. Multiple layers of clothing were required for some of the Tudor looks, and they incorporated brocades, velvets, and decorative trims and laces. Camelot, Inherit the Wind, and Macbeth required vintage looks from drastically different eras.
Innovative Costume Techniques
Many theatrical shows involved specific details and techniques, such as Cirque Du Soleil’s Iris, covered with Swarovski crystals heat set onto lycra costumes. A UCLA stage production of Medea featured Annette Bening in our corset and the chorus in pant suits we made from rubber. Velvet and plastic 3D letters were used for the bandeau of QT Cinderella’s dress for the 2024 Streamer award show.
Stunt & Fireproof Costumes
For over a decade, the shop created fireproof costumes for a stunt performer who is set on fire in the Universal stunt show WaterWorld in Singapore. Fish leather and water resistant fabrics were used for other characters in that show.
Glow Performance Wear
Costumes were made for Six Flags parks around the United States and Mexico, incorporating lights into costumes for their Glow in the Park nighttime parades and Lotte World, South Korea. This was when lighted costumes were a new, rare concept, and the team enjoyed the challenge!
Vibrant Show Costuming
For both Disneyland in California and Disney in Japan, many costumes were created for different shows and parades. The color schemes were often bold and vibrant and materials included sublimation printed fabrics, appliqué work and 3D vinyl letters. Back then, sublimation was a new technique, and it is always both fun and exciting to work with new fabric technologies!
Conceptual & Novelty Costumes
Some of our very unconventional assignments were to design and create vegetable costumes for photo shoots promoting vegetarianism. The big challenge was to keep everything looking fresh. Using refrigerators and ice packs for our costumes was certainly a new experience for us!
On-Screen Costume Craft
Mia worked on many TV shows which included extensive travel to different locations and countries over the years.
She worked on Sherman Show case, where she created all the costumes and was honored for her work as a Cutter/Fitter by the Prime time Emmy awards 2021.
Awards & Recognition
Other awards and recognition include Mia’s costume design for Wynonna Judd was voted Best Dressed at the CMA awards. Mia received the LA Weekly award for Musical of the Year/ CostumeDesign in 2001 for “Pinafore”.
She also won the Best Musical Production/Costume Design for Pinafore at the Fringe Festival in New York the same year.
For over a decade, she was a member of the Costume Designer’s Guild, Local #892, and she is still a member of Motion Picture Costumers IATSE Local #705.
We create costumes for both productions and private clients