About

Mission

Conscious Costume educates and empowers costume professionals by providing resources and community to galvanize a more ethical, inclusive, and circular world.

Story

Many costume artists that I talk to have a similar story to mine: ever since my first exposure to a costume shop environment in undergrad, I remember seeing piles and piles of fabric scraps in the trash and it broke my heart to see clean fabric scraps go into a trashcan and get destroyed by the remainder of someone's ramen noodles. I questioned how to improve the waste problem in a costume shop. However, I wasn’t seeing the full picture. I soon learned that in order to be truly ethical, I needed to radically reimagine my artistic supply chain.

We, as a feminized art form, can and should strive to support and empower the feminized labor in the global textile and fashion industry through ethical choices and circular thinking.

We are thrilled to launch this new peer-to-peer sharing platform allowing all costume artists to participate in a circular economy, make a little extra money, and make art not waste.

Kristen P Ahern

As the founder of Conscious Costume, Kristen is transforming norms in theatre and film with her open and accessible methods for circular and sustainable production; ensuring that costumes are created and used in ways that are respectful to both people and the planet.

Throughout her decade-long career in Washington D.C. and Chicago, Kristen has not only designed dozens of performances, she has also advocated for greater impact awareness and systems change within the arts, responding to challenges with innovation. Kristen co-founded Artists Resource Mobilization (ARM) during the 2020 pandemic shut-downs to support arts workers, and in 2021, Kristen and her team won the San Diego Opera Hack with their app to facilitate regional production materials swapping. She also served as Artistic Director for Strange Bedfellows Theatre from 2014-2016. 

Currently, Kristen is sharing her vision for a future where the arts contribute positively to societal change by hosting Conscious Costume events for community groups and universities around the world. Her developing recycled textile artistic practice is complemented by an ongoing study of permaculture and personal sustainability and carbon sequestration practices.

Kristen holds an MFA from the University of Maryland and a BA from Western Michigan University, and is dedicated to merging artistic excellence with environmental and ethical responsibility.