Check Out Zixin Ye’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zixin Ye.

Hi zixin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hello, My name is Zixin Ye, now pursuing my MFA in costume design at Carnegie Mellon.

My fever of costume design develops from my reading hobby. Watching television was prohibited by my parents when I was a kid. Reading became my majority way to explore the world and build imagination in childhood. In 2007, after highlighted paragraphs, which describe characters’ costume, behavior, personality, then repeatedly read them, I star to design, construction, and fit on model. At that time, I even don’t know the costume design is a specific major.

After graduated in Economic Major and Comparative Literature minor in UCSB for Bachelor Degree, I was finally pluck up courage to formally study drawing and costume design through UCSB continue education program, It completely change my mind towards drawing and design, as find an essential puzzle piece for my costume design progress.

I design costumes for both theater and film. I am currently completing the MAF in Costume Design at Carnegie Mellon University. My design work has been selected for international design exhibitions, including World Stage Design 2022 and 2025, and World Costume in Action 2024, among others.

I was born and grow-up in China meanwhile involved by global culture, including places in US and Europe.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
While inspiration for design often flows naturally and flashing, the journey to becoming a professional costume designer has been anything but easy for me.

Before I went to UC Santa Barbara, I wasn’t even aware that costume design was a specific major. My entire design work remained ‘underground’ from my parents, as they hoped I would focus solely on academic studies. However, nothing could stop me from pursuing costume design. In high school, I hid a sewing machine and fabric in the school’s recreation room to work on my design. I never let my grades drop, and by the time I graduated, I had completed fifteen costumes.

One of the other challenges in my early design experience was the very limited access to fabric swatches. The small town where I grew up didn’t have enough fabric resources and I start to explore the online swatch. In 2007, online shopping systems were just beginning to develop and were not user-friendly—especially for students under 18. That experience made me realize how essential swatches are in the costume design process.

In 2020, I was accepted into the MFA Costume Design program at Carnegie Mellon University. After completing my first year, I had to interrupt my education due to the pandemic and visa instability. During my gap years, I began designing for film in China and discovered the unique of costume in different categories and contrasting allure of costume design in both film and theatre.

In 2024, I finally returned to school. I am now in the process of transforming a long-held passion and hobby into a professional career—a path that continues to present numerous challenges, as well as moments of enlightenment and growth.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I design costume for both theater and film, and the story is always where the design inspiration comes from.

For me, costume Design is about people, humanity and telling story with clothing. I want to be a costume designer who can tell story and make characters alive with the team. Dramas give me deeper understanding of the world and my enthusiasm towards costume design makes me brave, persistent, and be a better person. Every minute I devote to Costume design makes me so happy.

What captivates me most is the ‘aha’ moment in the design process — that instant when every element feels perfectly aligned, as if inspiration and storytelling have found their perfect harmony.

I deeply love reading, and I’m a good listener. I’m especially drawn to storytellers — like directors and actors — and the spark in their eyes when they describe the world and characters they envision, as well as the emotions that burst forth from their hearts. I take pride in my deep understanding of stories and characters, as well as the abstract associations I’m able to design from unique inspiration.

What were you like growing up?
I was born and grow-up in a small town of southeast of China.

Curiosity is my significant personalities. Since young, I love read and listen stories. I was enriched various art activities by learning the flute and dance on my initiative and persistent practice to now. The Stage performance gives me vision of how characters feel in costume, what fabric will reflect light and allowed movement smooth. A good costume designer not only tell story but also helps artists get into character and confidence in their performance.

I am open-mind and able to adapt to new thing. In study journey in US and Europe, besides of pottery and flamenco, I took computer programing language class for Python and get good grade. Keep an open mind allow my approach to different world and interaction. I can be fresh and submergence to the new thing, which essential to sharp my design and inspire me a lot.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.zxyleaf.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lleaf_f/

Image Credits
Image Credits: Zhongda Wang