COLUMBUS, Ohio — When Austin Tootle was asked to design a costume for 16-year-old U.S. national skating champion Isabeau Levito, he was stunned.
“I mean, she's number one in the USA to go to the Olympics. So, if it does, well, then I could be a figure skater designer to an Olympic designer,’ he said.
The costume will debut on Sunday during the Showcase Spectacular. It is the culmination of a week of competitions during the 2024 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships taking place at Nationwide Arena in Columbus.
Tootle, a 2022 graduate of the Columbus College of Art and Design, met with Levito several times last summer so he could create something that spoke to her personality. Tootle admits the first mockup didn’t go so well.
“She hated it,” he said with a slight chuckle. “So, we went right back to the drawing board again.”
For Tootle, designing for an athlete who spins, twirls, and flips is completely different compared to his runway shows at New York Fashion Week or Columbus Fashion Week.
“You have to know fabric theory, you have to know the stretch of fabric, you have to key in on how her body moves,” he explained.
“Fashion isn't just a garment. You have to know how the body works and how the body moves. We have to look at it as it needs to be tight, but it can't be too tight because when you start to rhinestone it the fabric shrinks, so you have to make it a little bit bigger."
Tootle’s knowledge of fashion has grown tremendously since he first walked into the doors of CCAD in 2018.
In fact, Tootle tapped CCAD students Maggie Aspell, Mackenzie Daugherty, and Morgan Reiners to help with the concept behind Levito’s costume.
He said he didn’t even know how to sew. Now, Tootle is mentoring CCAD students and has become one of the most sought-after designers in the country.
“CCAD lets you tap into your creative freedom when you do projects, it really allowed me to do what I felt fit for my design style,” he said.
When it comes to taking risks and dealing with pressure, Tootle offered this advice for others looking to join the fashion industry:
“You know, chances, you're never going to be able to learn from them or grow from them. There's a lot of pressure with Fashion Weeks and also with this project. And you have to push yourself sometimes to a breaking point because if you don't break, you never know how much pressure you can take.”