Costume design, one button at a time

Lisa Peters has always been interested in fashion and costume design.
“I have made costumes most of my life.” She said. “I liked to play dress up when I was little, so I had to figure out a way to make stuff to dress up in.”
Peters has been teaching performing arts and costume design at Harvard-Westlake School for 12 years now. Before that, she worked in the entertainment costuming field, and did some freelance costume work, as well as entertainment wardrobe for Universal Studios.
Shannyn Schack ’16 described Peters as one of the most inspirational teachers she has ever had.
“Ms. Peters has a lot of passion for what she does.. she knows her craft really well, I mean she knows every single type of pleat and can explain it to you with tiny fabric demonstrations in 5 minutes or less. It’s absolutely incredible.” Shack said. “I just really love the fact that she is willing to help us with whatever we want to do…I feel like I have learned a lot about innovation and the creative process.”
Peters and her students help make costumes for performing arts events at Harvard-Westlake.
“It was really cool, seeing something like a jacket I made, up on that stage and watching the vision you’ve been working on come to life,” Shack said.