About
LA based Costume Designer, Ciara Whaley, believes strongly in the importance of embracing
individuality through style and wearing one’s differences with confidence. This mantra guided
her to a vocation of costume design and continues to inform her work in film. Under the
mentorship of acclaimed costume designer Mimi Maxmen, Ciara learned how to collaborate with
directors and actors to arrive at costumes reflective of characters’ unique qualities and emotional
journeys.
Her designs have been seen on HBO, IFC, Netflix, Disney+ and Showtime, as well as
in music videos for artists like Bianca Leonor, John Duff, Ezri, and John Legend.
Driven by collaboration
Early in her career Ciara became something of a fixture on the festival circuit. She designed the
AFI-developed short War Paint, which premiered at Sundance, Nicole Riegel’s directorial debut
Holler (SXSW premiere), and the mini-series East of La Brea, which also debuted at SXSW and
was well-received for its honest portrayal of two young Muslim women navigating their early
twenties in LA. Ciara continued on the theme of giving voice to previously untold stories
through her work on Leimert Park; The Macro Ventures-produced series, which premiered at
Sundance, and chronicles the lives of three young black women in a rapidly gentrifying
neighborhood in South LA. She designed for features Deidra and Laney Rob a Train and The
Land, both of which premiered at Sundance and received nominations in the Best of Next!
Category.