Course: BA (Hons) Performance Design and Film Costume (previously Costume for Screen and Stage)
Graduated: 2004
Sophie Canale is an acclaimed costume designer with credits including Saltburn and the award-winning Netflix series Bridgerton.
Raised in Falmouth, Cornwall, Sophie graduated from AUB in 2004 and after a year travelling the world, she moved to London, set about climbing the costume design ladder.
Canale started her career as a costume trainee, and has since had the opportunity to work in many roles within the industry. She’s also worked in a variety of genres – theatre, film, TV and commercials – gaining broad knowledge across different forms of media. She climbed the ranks from her initial costume trainee role (Green Zone) to costume buyer (X-Men: First Class, Kingsman) to assistant designer (Jurassic World, Artemis Fowl) before being handed the reins as costume designer for Season Two of the Netflix series Bridgerton.
Canale says of her rise from costume trainee to designer is one of hard work, dedication, and perseverance: "When I first set out on this path, I wasn’t sure where it would take me and never really envisaged an end goal as such. I would just go from project to project, work as hard as I possibly could and soak up as much information as I could from the designers and directors. I have worked for, and within, teams of incredibly talented and generous people. I love the creativity of building characters and worlds.
"There is no golden rule or a winning ticket in this job, it’s about pushing yourself and stepping out of your comfort zone on a daily basis."
In 2024, Sophie won the Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Contemporary Film for her work on Saltburn.
