Award-winning couturier Raxann Chin recently received her first television nomination for Best Costume Design at The Independent Series Awards held in Hollywood.
The award, known as “The Indie”- honors excellence in scripted television series produced independently for the internet.
Chin and her collaborator Christopher Lawrence were nominated for their work on the comedy series, “Cady Did,” featuring Tony Award winner Cady Huffman. Although they did not win in their category, “Cady Did” emerged as the night’s big winner, walking away with five Indie awards for Best Comedy Series, Best Actress in a Comedy Series (Cady Huffman), Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (Joyce Van Patten), Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Scott Adsit) and Best Production Design.
For Chin, a Jamaican-American based in New York, the nomination itself was a major honor, coming just a few years into her professional journey as a costume designer.
“I embarked on the fashion journey as a couture designer a decade ago with the launch of my own fashion line Femheka,” she explained. “However, as a storyteller, I have consistently told stories with my designs. So when I got the opportunity to expand my horizons into the realm of film and television with my first project, Gritin 2015, I seized it because costuming is an essential component of storytelling on screen. To have my work recognized by the Indie Awards, alongside my incredibly talented collaborator Christopher Lawrence means a great deal.”
In the years since Grit, Chin has continued to expand her costume design resume with television and film productions including “American Trial: The Eric Garner Story,” “The Last Nazi,” “Lust Life Love” and most recently, Disney’s holiday short “Keeping Up with the Claus” starring Falcon Crest veteran, Margaret Ladd. Her work on stage includes the Off Broadway production “The Glen,” The Bare Opera Company’s “Figaro“ and The International Brazilian Opera Company’s upcoming world premiere production “Plastic Flowers.“
A graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit — from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies and Media Arts — Chin is a completely self taught designer. Creative at a young age, she drew inspiration from her modeling career that started at age 12 and being a fixture in the art room at her alma mater, Mount Alvernia High School in Montego Bay. Chin also credits her mother, Math and Science teacher, Ellen Chin — whom she proudly boasts is now a Math PhD candidate — as a source of inspiration. “I often went fabric shopping with her and I still remember the location of her seamstress who had tons of fashion catalogues to peruse… She’s truly the first fashionista I knew.”
In addition to her work in film, television, theater and opera Chin has also worked as a costume designer and stylist on commercials for companies such as Coca Cola, The Voice of Holland and The Empire State Building , as well as on music videos with artists including Hannah Gill, Damian Marley, Queen Ifrica and Raina and The Bee Hive.
