Meet Ina: An Up-and-Coming Costume Designer

Ever wondered who has put all that work in dressing actors in movies and tv shows? The person behind all those beautiful, funny, or elegant costumes is? Who is the one who helps add some color to your favorite hero or villain? Costume designer is there to make movies, TV shows, and commercials come alive by adding color and textures to every scene. They are able to enhance the personality of each character and make them more believable, and realistic. 

Just like our own .MEr, Ina Arnautalic, does.

Who is Ina Arnautalic?

Ina Arnautalic is a talented illustrator and costume designer, born and raised in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She calls two cities, Sarajevo and Berlin, her home and travels to and from on a regular basis. 

Her love for designing costumes dates back to her childhood. Since she was brought up in a family of film professionals, no wonder she became enthralled by costume design. Ina found the possibility to shape a character’s personality through the outfit so inspiring that she quickly became completely immersed in this amazing world of creation. 

After finishing high school, the next logical step for her was to apply to the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo. Once she graduated, Ina enrolled in the University of Arts in Berlin. There, she got her Master’s degree in costume design.

Even during her studies, Ina used every opportunity to gain professional experience, expand her skillset and broaden her knowledge. That’s why it was easier for her to get job opportunities once she graduated. Today, her name appears in many movies, commercials, theatre plays, and music videos produced by both local and international teams. 

Thanks to her skill, determination, and talent, Ina is on her way to becoming a well-known costume designer who possesses admirable experience not only in costume designing but also in costume supervising and coordinating.  

What is her career story?

Ina’s career started as early as in 2006. She appeared for the first time as a costume designer in Woyzek, a theater play by the prominent Bosnian director Selma Spahic. Since then, she did a series of costumes for various well-received short and feature films. Ina also worked with Bosnian Oscar winning director Danis Tanović. Ina was the main costume designer on his feature film “Death in Sarajevo” that won Silver Berlin Bear at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. 

However, her biggest achievement in the world of movies so far is a short stop-motion animation film called Kopfkino produced and directed by Ina Arnautalic herself. She also did the costume design, set design, and animation. 

When it comes to commercials and music videos, Ina took part in a variety of successful projects. The most well-known commercial she worked on is the one featuring the famous Bosnian beer called Sarajevsko. In addition, she did costumes for several awesome music artists. One of them is Laka, a musician who represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest. 

Ina has also appeared as an exhibitor at a couple of exhibitions. Some of the most prominent ones are Europe Future Fashion, 100% Art, 40 ALU, and Wroclove Design Festival. What’s more, Ina has received several prestigious awards so far. Possibly the most significant one was The Best Costume Designers award when she received compliments from Jean Paul Gaultier himself. 

As far as Ina’s illustrations are concerned, she is skilled in both digital and handmade illustration. Her illustrations are bold, colorful, daring, sophisticated, inspiring, modern, and energetic just like her.   

What is her digital footprint like? 

When it comes to Ina’s digital footprint, it’s clear that she knows that online and offline worlds are becoming one. The way you present yourself online is equally important as the image you have in the offline world. For this reason, Ina decided to use a personalized .ME domain as her online home – to show the world just how amazing her work is. And this is a crucial step in creating a strong personal brand that will set us apart from the others.

Her personal website, costumedesigner.me, acts as a portfolio where she showcases everything she’s achieved so far. There, you can find all the movies, commercials, music videos, and exhibitions she participated in, as well as all the awards she has received. Since her expertise is so diverse, a personal website allows prospective clients and other interested parties to have a better overview of the scope of her work. This helps her get the most out of her digital presence in the professional sense, as she is creating a truly amazing online portfolio everyone will surely remember. 

The website itself is beautifully designed, very easy to navigate, and has everything you ever wanted to know about Ina Arnautalic. It has five main categories – Showreel, Selected Projects, Commercials, Music Videos, and Illustration. Also, there is an About me page that offers all the most important bits and pieces about Ina. It contains something about her education, career, and projects she took part in, as well as her contact info.   

Bottom line

The job of a costume designer is vital for the success of a movie, theatre play, music video, or commercial. Without a well-thought-out costume, characters would appear lifeless and bland, devoid of their unique personality.  

Costumes give color to each character, as well the particular scene or the entire set. And a talented costume designer knows how to create costumes that are powerful enough to breathe life into each character. 

One such talented costume designer is Ina Arnautalic – a member of our ever-growing ME family. Well done, Ina, keep up the good work!