Daniel James Cole, adjunct assistant professor in the Fashion Department, has won the prestigious 2024 Costume Society of America’s Annual Award for Costume Design. This honor recognizes Cole’s inventive work on the 2022 production of Ariadne auf Naxos, staged by Arizona Opera. He presented the project at the CSA’s most recent national symposium. Founded in 1973, the CSA is a nonprofit that fosters the study of clothing and fashion. Past recipients of the costume design award include Tony winners Susan Hilferty (Wicked) and Martin Packledinaz (Thoroughly Modern Millie).
The complex plot of Ariadne requires three clearly defined costume schemes. “Three different worlds must contrast but coexist,” Cole says. “The reality of the wealthy man, seen in the below-stairs kitchen/pantry realm; the world and visual language of the commedia dell’arte troupe; and the elegant theatricality of the opera company.” Inspired by a play by Molière (1622–1673), the opera is typically set in the 17th century, but for this production, director Chuck Hudson and Cole chose to set it roughly during the time of its composition (1912).
The change presented a creative challenge for Cole, who has taught courses in fashion history, world textiles and costume design at FIT. Researching the period through paintings and other sources, he discovered that ikat fabrics, originally from the Uzbekistan region, were becoming fashionable in imperial Russia and Western Europe. Commedia characters typically wear painted diamonds on their costumes, but Cole decided to let ikat designs “do the work of the diamonds.” For silhouettes, he took inspiration from Emilie Louise Flӧge (1874-1952), a Viennese avant-garde dress designer and common law wife of the artist Gustav Klimt.
Cole coauthored The History of Modern Fashion (2015, Laurence King), and has written articles about American and world fashion. He is currently researching the development of traditional dress in Borneo for an upcoming publication. He also designed costumes for the summer 2025 production of Sweeney Todd for Opera Maine.