Theatre Alum and Scholarship Recipient Creates Costumes For Hit Shows on Hulu, HBO

Alicia Austin ’16 had never even attended a play before coming to the University of Mary Washington. But after her first costume design course, she realized theatre was the perfect fit.

“It was so interesting to me that I changed my major,” said Alicia, who planned to study psychology but found elements of that in her new field. “I discovered that costuming could be a visual language to express each character’s personality.”

Now she’s putting those sartorial skills to work. After earning a bachelor’s degree in theatre from Mary Washington – and the UMW Performing Arts for the Community Scholarship and Rosemary Ingham Scholarship in Theatre – Alicia completed an MFA at Yale University. Graduating just before COVID shuttered Broadway, she made a leap from stage to screen, joining design teams for remakes of HBO’s Sex and the City and Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, as well as the Hulu hit Only Murders in the Building, which just began its second season.

It’s a success story she’s been stitching together a little at a time.

“I grew up sewing out of utility, because it was cheaper to buy fabric and make clothes myself,” said Alicia, who began coursework at Mary Washington, but took a break from her studies to open an upscale consignment shop in downtown Fredericksburg. “I’m not someone who goes around saying ‘I love fashion,’ but clothing always held a deeper meaning for me.”

She sold funky jackets and floral frocks, designer jeans and buttery leather boots at Madeline Ruth and later Forage. With a prime location in a college town, her small secondhand business was booming. But she still wanted to earn a college degree, so she returned to Mary Washington.

At Mary Washington, Alicia designed costumes for Leslye Headland’s workplace satire, ‘Assistance.’ In the photo: Madeleine Dilley ’17. Photo by Geoff Greene.

Alicia also designed costumes for UMW Theatre’s production of Bryony Lavery’s chilling drama, ‘Frozen.’ In this photo: Jackie Filicko ’16 and Jake Crowley ’16. Photo by Geoff Greene.

Alex Newton ’17 and Lauren Frautschi ’18 in UMW Theatre’s production of Leslye Headland’s ‘Assistance,’ wearing costumes designed by Alicia Austin ’16. Photo by Geoff Greene.

Choosing from an ensemble of electives, Alicia discovered fabric modification, patterning and costume design. She had no idea what these courses entailed, she said, “but they sounded very cool.” So she reached out to Department of Theatre and Dance Chair Gregg Stull about switching majors and fast-tracking the next two years of her degree.

“Alicia brought both intention and passion to everything she did – every class, production and project,” Professor Stull said. “She’s a remarkable and gifted artist, and I’m eager to see the great work in her future.”

Though she continued to operate her shop, Alicia said the UMW Performing Arts for the Community Scholarship and Rosemary Ingham Scholarship in Theatre were the key to helping her flourish in college.

“The financial freedom they provided allowed me the time to focus on my classes and work on productions,” she said. “Receiving these scholarship awards gave value to my academic and artistic pursuits.”

Running her own business also helped Alicia set the stage for the pressures of doubling up on classes, while creating costumes for UMW Theatre productions like Frozen and Assistance.

“The caliber of education I had at Mary Washington prepared me to seek the same level of academic experience at Yale,” Alicia said.

After UMW, Alicia earned an MFA at Yale School of Drama, where she designed costumes for theatre productions like William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest.’

Alicia also designed costumes for regional theatre productions such as Baltimore Center Stage’s production of Noah Diaz’s ‘Richard & Jane & Dick & Sally.’ Photo by Teresa Castracane.

At Yale School of Drama, Alicia showcased the skills she developed at UMW, designing costumes for Em Weinstein & Michael Breslin’s ‘Arden,’ an adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘As You Like It.’ Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

She thrived in the notoriously rigorous three-year theatre program at the Ivy League school, earning the prestigious Princess Grace Award, for budding theatre, dance and film artists, in 2019.

Now based in Brooklyn, Alicia still loves the stage, but her work on Only Murders, a streaming show about three amateur podcasters who attempt to solve a homicide in their fancy New York apartment building, allows her talent to reach a wider audience.

Her team’s dapper designs – including Selena Gomez’s marigold faux-fur coat, Martin Short’s royal purple attire and Steve Martin’s dashing fedora – have landed in the likes of Elle, InStyle and Buzzfeed. But Alicia says the real stars are the leaders of the all-female costume crew.

“They’ve taught me so much about the kinds of clothes you put on characters to represent who they are,” said Alicia, who might not have captured her current role without the education and scholarships she received at Mary Washington.

“If you’re ambitious and can figure out what you want,” she said, “there will always be someone at UMW to guide you and help you reach those goals.”

– Article written by Assistant Director of Advancement Communications Jill Graziano Laiacona ’04. Betty Emrey of Mindpower Inc. contributed to the reporting and writing of this story, which originally ran on the UMW news site. 

For information on endowing scholarships at the University of Mary Washington, please contact the Office of University Advancement at advance@umw.edu or 540-654-1024.