Color swatches and sketch for
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras in Extreme Ops.

FIDM Instructor Maria Schicker Creates Hollywood Costumes

As a costume designer, style consultant, and designer of her own brand of apparel, FIDM instructor Maria Schicker is an industry veteran who is educating future talent. "Passing on my knowledge to these talented, young students is an exciting challenge to me," Maria says of her Advanced Film & TV Costume Design classes. "It always amazes me to see the students discover their own style."

Recently, Maria and her students were asked to work together to create a modern look for a classic icon: Santa Claus! The students' work was showcased at the Hunky Santa Fashion Show held at L.A.'s famed Beverly Center shopping mall. "It's a steep learning curve for the students since it's their first real outside project," she explains. "It's not just an assignment judged by a teacher's vision." It's these types of exciting projects that give FIDM students hands-on, real world experience in the fashion industry.

Originally from Berlin, Maria learned her trade in Europe and for the past 20 years, has been designing costumes on major film productions – contemporary and period – all over the world. "I work with color, texture, cloth, and design to help create characters and tell the script's story," she explains.

She has received Emmy and Costume Designers Guild nominations for her costumes in the television movie "Hitler: The Rise of Evil," and was part of the exhibition, "50 Designers/50 Designs" organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The exhibition is traveling all over the world, from Toronto to Chicago to Los Angeles to Tokyo.

Maria's philosophy behind her label Schicker Design www.schickerdesign.com is simple: "I believe every figure has beauty in itself," she says. "I am interested in real people and enjoy the challenge of making them feel just right in their own distinctive style." This multi-talented instructor is also a fine arts painter, so she often finds herself dyeing and painting fabrics for use in her designs.

Currently, Maria has an exciting job as a costume designer for the upcoming film Dark Street. The 1930s film noir feature allows her to really showcase her talents. "We have beautiful music numbers with orchestras and ladies dressed to the nines," she says excitedly from the set. "I'm making wonderful headpieces and I can do a lot of interesting costumes."

Please Note: The information contained herein was confirmed at the time of original publication