Coast Report
February 18, 2009
Former student dresses Hollywood elite
Brie Harris designs costumes for television and film
By Dylan Mial, Staff Writer
Former Orange Coast College student Brie Harris has gone from small town girl to big city designer.
Harris, 30, is living the fast-paced life of a costume designer in Los Angeles where she recently moved to pursue her career. As a costumer, Harris designs the wardrobe of cast members on television and film, such as Hollywood stars, Michael Vartan, Adrien Brody and Michael Chiklis.
She has worked on the sets of television shows “Studio 60” and “Drive” and is currently working on the set of movie “High School” and will start working on the movie “Demoted.”
“I’ve been in a Sheraton for five months outside Detroit while filming,” Harris said. “Sometimes it feels like I have no life.”
Harris didn’t always live such a busy life, especially in Morro Bay, the small city in central California she called home. She moved to Orange County in 2000 and started taking classes at OCC off and on through 2004 and became a student of the fashion department.
“I loved the fashion department,” Harris said. “Christina Amaral was the most amazing thing that ever happened to me.”
Amaral, an instructor with the OCC Fashion department, got Harris her first internship with the clothing company Paul Frank Industries. Harris took many unpaid internships, including one that lasted for two years.
The road to becoming a costume designer wasn’t always an easy one for Harris.
“At one point I was working three jobs and taking 18 units,” Harris said. “I had to pay the bills.”
Nine years later, Harris established a successful career in costume design. Her hard work has definitely paid off she said, but it hasn’t stopped.
“It’s just a lot of work. Sometimes I put in 15-20 hours a day, six days a week. I’ve been really lucky though,” Harris said.
Harris does offer a few words of advice to OCC fashion students.
“Work on anything you can possibly work on. Wear comfortable shoes that don’t make noise and pay attention in textiles class,” Harris said.
© 2009 Coast Report, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA
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