Telling stories with wardrobe

Working in theatre and commercials is a high-pressure game.

- Hein Kaiser

The clothes make the character. Imagine a Roman emperor dressed in baggy jeans or sweats instead of period-specific, richly textured costume. It's not believable.

It's the job of the costume designer to help audiences believe in the magic of theatre or the storytelling of cinema and television.

Celebrated South African designer, wardrobe mistress and all-round creative ball of energy Heidi Riss has shaped hundreds of characters during her career.

Whether it's been the over-the-top look and feel of opera through to cave people and, well, everything in between, she's been there, achieved that.

Theatre was her first love and after she studied at the Curzon fashion school, Riss hotfooted it straight to the centre of the action.

"I was fortunate that a well-known director at the State Theatre saw my portfolio when I started out," she said.

"He told me to wait and find a gap, to stay in touch. When I did, he eventually called me in."

Her theatre career got going fast after that. She designed costumes for productions with South African legends like Sandra Prinsloo and Marius Weyers.