About Allisa Swanson

Award-Winning Costume Designer

World-Builder

Character Creator

Allisa M. Swanson is an award-winning Canadian Costume Designer with over 30 years of experience in the film and television industry. A world-builder and character creator at heart, she has built a career bringing stories to life through thoughtful, imaginative, and character-driven costume design.

Her extensive body of work spans contemporary drama, comedy, period productions, science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Most recently, Allisa has designed both Seasons 1 and 2 of the revival of the beloved television series Scrubs and is currently working on the upcoming Very Young Frankenstein. Her other notable credits include The Hunting Party, So Help Me Todd, Firefly Lane, The 100 (Seasons 3 and 4), Once Upon a Time (Season 7), Turner & Hooch, Another Life, and the feature film The Snow Walker.

In 2004, Allisa received the Leo Award for Best Costume Design in a Feature Film for The Snow Walker. Her work has also earned multiple Leo and CAFTCAD Award nominations, including recognition for Once Upon a Time and Firefly Lane.

Allisa holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design and Marketing, with an emphasis in Costume Design, from the American College of Applied Arts in Los Angeles, California. Her creative career has extended beyond film and television into theatre, live performances, commercial productions, and the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

An active advocate for the Canadian film industry, Allisa served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Alliance of Film & Television Costume Arts & Design (CAFTCAD) from 2019 to 2025, including two years as President. She is a member of the Television Academy, IATSE Local 891, ACFC West, and UBCP, and serves as a Facilitator for Creative BC’s Motion Picture Industry Orientation (MPIO) program.

Passionate about sharing her knowledge, Allisa has taught seminars and workshops, participated in industry panels, and appeared as a guest speaker and costume competition judge at conventions and events throughout North America and Europe.

Allisa approaches every production with creativity, resourcefulness, preparation, and a collaborative spirit. She believes that costumes are far more than clothing: they are an essential part of storytelling, capable of revealing a character’s history, personality, and motivations before a single word of dialogue is spoken.

For Allisa, one of the greatest rewards of costume design is watching an actor step into a costume and seeing a completely different person emerge.