​​In our long-running series “How I’m Making It,” we talk to people making a living in the fashion and beauty industries about how they broke in and found success.

Costume designer Tanja Caldwell’s earliest memories of fashion weren’t of watching red carpets or flipping through fashion magazines — they were of playing in her grandmother’s closet.

“She had these beautiful church hats,” Caldwell recalls. “I would play in her hats and heels. She and my mother were my two fashion inspirations growing up. They were really well-dressed women, whether going to work, church, or just for a family outing; the way they dressed, I noticed it.” Those playful childhood moments planted seeds for a career that Caldwell never could have predicted — one that would eventually lead her to be the costume designer for the Netflix series “Forever.”

But Caldwell’s path to costume design didn’t start in fashion school or even on a film set. She initially pursued a career in medicine, studying biology with the goal of becoming a pediatrician. Yet, friends often asked for her fashion advice, recognizing her innate sense of style long before she did herself. That curiosity slowly evolved into a career, and she went from styling to assisting Ruth E. Carter, the Oscar-winning costume designer behind “Black Panther.”

Ahead, she talks about her unconventional path, her work with Carter, and how she approaches the deeply collaborative world of costume design.

You studied biology in college — how did that lead to fashion?

I graduated from Spellman with the intention of attending medical school. I was a bit exhausted from school, so I took some time off. I was often approached and asked, ‘Do you style? You’re really fashionable.’ I had some friends at the time who were professional stylists, so I’d pick their brain, and eventually they were like, well, just come with me. So, I went to a couple of different editorial shoots and began assisting stylists in Atlanta. Then I started dressing some athletes and celebrities, and eventually began taking my own clients. I also worked at Neiman Marcus, which opened up even more opportunities.

How did you first get into costume design specifically?

An opportunity materialized to come to Los Angeles to work with a celebrity stylist, and I figured I could attend school later if I decided. I worked under a really amazing stylist for about three years, and then a friend of hers who was also a stylist, as well as a costume designer. She took a liking to me, and asked me to manage her boutique. I was in my 20s and working three or four different jobs; I wasn’t saying no to anything.

She said, ‘Well, you can gain more hands-on experience as a production assistant. I can bring you on to the show that I’m on, which is ‘The Voice’.’ I was able to see firsthand what all the different departments within a production did, but also specifically in costume design — what a costume designer, costume supervisor, a set costumer, and a group of tailors do; just the whole process of it. And I loved it, and was really drawn to it. So I worked as a PA there for a few years, and then I actually ended up moving back to Atlanta, which is where I was able to join the union and become a professional unionized set costumer. I worked in Atlanta for two or three years, and then I moved back to Los Angeles. That’s where I began my assistant designer career.

How did you start working with Ruth E. Carter?

I was referred to Ruth, and we had a great interview; I then started working with her on'”Being Mary Jane.’ She kind of took me under her wing, and she’s someone that I consider a close friend and a big sister, and I learned a lot from her. I was one of her shoppers and set costumers, but I worked really closely with her on curating the looks for the main characters. That gave me a really great baseline education firsthand on how that’s done, and the storyboarding, creative building, and concept development that comes into that. Then came ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Wakanda Forever,’ and ‘Coming 2 America.’

After that, I felt really confident in starting to design on my own, and she’s been really supportive in that way. I still do some personal styling, but only for certain clients, depending on their needs, because right now my passion really is the storytelling of costume design and what that entails.

What were some of the biggest lessons you learned from her?

One of the first things I really noticed about her and her process is the research. She collects books and reads articles. She studies characters and the script. I think [that is] a really important part of building these different characters out. So, I create storyboards to share with my directors and my showrunners, and even when I’m pitching myself to design a show, I do a lot of research and collect things that speak to what this story is telling through each of these different characters.

When I worked with her on ‘Black Panther’ for the second time, there were so many different tribes that we had to dress that were rooted in real African tribes. But we also had the challenge of bringing this futuristic aspect to it, so there was a lot of research involved in that, and research involved in the African American diaspora, and what that was. Once you kind of figure out what they look like, then you can gather images and videos, or clips, to lay out visually what each of those characters should look like. And that, to me, is the foundation. I really learned that from her, because her boards were so detailed and very in-depth.

What was it like working on ‘Forever’?

It was challenging, but it felt really organic and natural for me. It also felt full circle, having worked with Mara [Brock Akil] more indirectly on other projects, and now being able to work on this new, beautiful baby project with her. And it being attached to Judy Blume, and telling this beautiful story about young Black love, and growth and maturity — it was something that really resonated with me.

I was inspired by the kind of teen idols that I had growing up, like Aaliyah and TLC. That kind of tomboy, fly, sporty, girly look was something I experimented with myself as a teenager. It’s really rewarding and fun to see it come full circle now that I’m older. I was able to take my own personal knowledge and experience and implement it directly into this show.

[Costume design] really does leave an imprint on our hearts and our minds in regards to different outfits and looks. They make those characters super memorable for us, to the point we want to dress up like them, and we want to kind of feel and be that character fully.

Do you think formal education is necessary for costume design?

In hindsight, if I had known this was something I was going to be doing, I probably would have gone to learn how to sketch and how to build myself from the ground up, but it’s not necessary. I think if you have a clear understanding of fabrics and silhouettes, and you have your own eye, it’s still very possible, and it’s a profession you can definitely do. I think a lot of what costume design is is collaborating and understanding what is necessary from a wardrobe perspective to tell the story of a character. And whether it be in styling or designing, I think you do have to have some background in the draping of the body. But these are all things you can learn, or you can gain experience.

Related: How Do You Become a Costume Designer?

What advice would you give someone looking to break into costume design?

If you’re trying to get into costume design, but you also want to be a designer, go to design school to get that education. But after that, look into productions where you can be a production assistant and get hands-on experience. I didn’t necessarily know I wanted to be a costume designer until I started working on productions and I saw what a set costumer does, versus what a supervisor does, versus what a key costumer does. All those different parts within a costume department require different skills and even different personalities. Seeing those firsthand helped me figure out what I wanted to do, but also gave me an education on what all those different parts of that department do, because it really is a team effort.

Homepage Photo: Courtesy of Tanja Caldwell

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