Episode 132 - Melanie Jasmine - The Art of Transformation

Our guest today is Melanie Jasmine a costume designer and makeup artist based in Texas.

With more than 10 years of experience in sewing and design, she began her involvement in the cosplay community at age 15. Within the community she hosts panels and crafting sessions, judges cosplay contests and is a brand ambassador. She represents a newer generation of professional cosplayers who combine costume design, performance, makeup artistry, and branded content creation into dynamic character work. In addition to sewing and fabrication, she is known for using advanced makeup techniques to complete fully immersive transformations.
She has worked with a variety of brands, such as Lootcrate, 20th Century Fox, Dreamhack, AVC Entertainment, Anime Expo, Dallas Fuel, Hulu, Coca Cola, and Blizzard Entertainment; creating promotional content and organizing meetups. She also shares insight into how brand partnerships differ from competition builds, what she looks for when judging contests, and how the cosplay industry has evolved over the years.

Her work has won numerous awards and when not busy creating, she can be found doing guest appearances around the country.

(1:53) How did Melanie learn to sew and who were her influencers?

(4:10) What was Melanie like as a little girl before cosplay?

(5:28) What brought her to the United States?

(8:30) What drew Melanie to costume making and what was the first costume she ever made?

(10:00) How did her early years in cosplay affect what she does today?

(11:47) How does her work on makeup and costuming influence each other?

(14:23) What are some of the tools and materials that are important to her?

(17:00) Melanie explains how working with brands and collaborations is different than other projects.

(22:51) What does she look for when judging competitions?

(26:44) What changes has she seen over her involvement in cosplay.

(30:10) What skills do sewists and quilters have that will help them get started I cosplay?

(32:56) Where does she find her inspiration?

(34:10) What’s next for her and what’s her dream?

(35:26)Is there a question we didn’t ask?

(35:42) You can reach her at her email melanie@mjasmine.com and on Instagram.@mjasminedesign

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Key Words: cosplay, costume design, makeup artistry, sewing, fabrication, character transformation, brand collaborations, cosplay competitions, creative career, influencer marketing, melaniejasmine, mjasminedesigns, sew&sopodcast