Daily Inspiration: Meet Kristine Lee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristine Lee.

Hi Kristine, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hi everyone I’m Kristine Lee, everyone calls me Kris, and I am an aspiring costume designer. Let me rewind the time to how I got here. I’m from Memphis, TN, but moved at a young age and raised in a small town in Mississippi, then moved back to Collierville, TN (small town in Memphis) where I spent the rest of my childhood up till high school graduation. I have always been open to new ideas and experiences, ones that shaped me and ones that shaped my now known interests. My parents believed in letting my older brother and I try out any extracurriculars that peaked our interests, in order for us to figure out what we liked and didn’t at a very young age, but to also help acclimate and open up to different environments and people in them. With that being said, I took interests in and grew up doing cheer, ballet, fine arts, piano and even a little bit of singing all throughout different phases of my childhood. One that’s stuck till this day is fine arts. When going through the college application process I had no idea what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go, for being one of the very few individuals to have a creative hand, until I heard about SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design). I immediately did my research on SCAD along with other art schools, but once I saw Fashion as a major and in an Atlanta location, I applied that very day and a couple weeks later, got accepted, and next thing I know I’m accepting the acceptance. Clearly did not waste any time because what drew me to SCAD was not only its Atlanta location filled with a myriad of cultures and diversity, but also the school’s many first hand industry opportunities and collaborative networking with friends, peers, industry mentors, professors, other majors, etc. It really was love at first sight. Providing a space for me to create, ideate, and develop designs to its full extent. I am currently a senior fashion design student and going back to the point about collaborating and networking, my first experience of this was at the end of my sophomore/beginning of junior year when my film major best friend (roommate at the time) invited me to work as a wardrobe assistant on SCAD’s student run production tv show ChefATL (can now watch on PBS). I had no intentions going into this role on my first film set because at this point I didn’t know specifically what I wanted to pursue in the fashion industry but from this moment on, it became clear. I became more immersed with the film community which led to film students asking me to style their wardrobe for their capstones (worked on 4 as of today). On set for ChefATL, I was learning all the “behind the lens” tips and tricks by working with SCAD’s stylist, which since then have been called to work alongside for other SCAD projects including: BAM, annual catalog photoshoots, and TVFest photoshoots. For me, it was more about the story that can be told through what one wears on screen. My admiration for film itself continues to grow since these hands on experiences helped me to be more attentive and view the bigger picture of a scene or character. My passion for storytelling of fashion through film has now evolved into the concept of my senior collection which will be ready Spring 2026. Overall, I’d say be open to any opportunity big or small because you never know what may come from that, in this case for me, I was able to find my calling, a passionate career path, a dream I never knew could come true.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Never anything major because I tell myself that “it can always be worse.” My challenges are organic. I will have brain-fart moments; mental blocks where I start to second guess and overthink everything which then hold me back from moving forward with anything. These internal conflicts then carry onto my procrastination, but persevere and will always come out with something I’m proud of. My obstacles/challenges that I’ve faced throughout this journey would simply stem from an artist being their own worse critic.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Most of my work happens through the act of the process of elimination. Yes, I am currently working on a senior 5 look womenswear collection which requires ideation, hands-on making of all outfits, and the making/sourcing for styling the pieces you made to complete the story. However, despite all of that hard work, I’d like to categorize my work through costume designing and wardrobe styling through the lenses. I listed most my fashion through film projects I’ve worked on in the past in the “My Story” column which for all of them I feel extreme gratitude for and feel deserve a “pat on the back” emotion when seeing my name in the credits.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
The only role of luck I think I’ve experienced through my journey would be that I was in the right place at the right time. I also believe that within this creative environment, my greatest luck are the people I meet and consider my closest friends. Because everyone here is talented in their own fields, I naturally have created strong connections with people who are talented in different industries, basically creating built in connections. Because of that, their wins are also mine. Additionally, in this space of creative study, I’ve learned that it is important to work well and positively with everyone regardless of personal matters because you never know who you’ll run into and work with again in the industry, that would be bad luck.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: kristineeylee