Tanya Jacobs Ensuring Cirque Du Soleil’s Wardrobe Flies

New Zealand-born wardrobe director Tanya Jacobs has toured with the Cirque du Soleil show Varekai ever since she first began working for the company, overseeing the maintenance of late Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka’s aesthetic in the production’s groundbreaking costumes.

Varekai, which means “wherever” in the gypsy Romany language, is the name for a world set in a forest at the summit of an old volcano inhabited by whimsical and enchanted creatures.

“It’s one of the most visually stunning Cirque du Soleil productions. It transfers well into an arena from the big top,” Jacobs said. “It produces images in your mind that come into your dreams without knowing they are there after seeing the show. The acrobatics are absolutely amazing, mind blowing.”

Jacobs has a background in fashion design and worked in the industry in Australia for a couple of years when she saw a Cirque du Soleil show there.

“That’s when I realised the acrobatic elements of working with costume was very interesting for me,” she said. “About three years later, I got a contract with the company.”

Original article by Jill Moon, The Telegraph, December 23, 2014.