Building Worlds, One Costume at a Time

Ann Foley (’98) did not set out to design costumes for Emmy® Award-winning television.

In fact, when she arrived on Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro Campus to pursue a degree in fashion merchandising, a future in her hometown of Savannah was fully lined up.

“I had it all figured out,” she recalled with a laugh. “I was going to work as a buyer at The Limited and marry my boyfriend at the time. My mom was very happy with that plan.”

Then a movie came to town.

While still a student, Foley visited the set of “1969,” a film starring Robert Downey Jr., where a friend was working as a production assistant. As she watched extras move through the set in carefully constructed period clothing on the downtown Statesboro location, something clicked.

“I met the costume designer, Julie Weiss, who’s a legend in our business,” Foley recalled. “I thought, ‘wow, this is amazing.’ I didn’t even realize costume design was an option.”

Until that moment, Foley assumed fashion careers lived in showrooms and buying offices, not on film sets.

“That was the end of me becoming a buyer at The Limited,” she mused from her home in Los Angeles.

After graduating from Georgia Southern, Foley made a decision that still surprises her.

“I moved to Los Angeles with $500 and one phone number,” she said. “It was a friend of a friend in the business.”

That single connection led to her first job assisting costume designer Hope Hanafin, who was designing her first project at that time. Foley was hired, and never looked back.

Her earliest years working her way up through costume departments gave her a technical fluency that now defines her work, especially on physically demanding productions.

“It’s important as a designer to understand how clothes actually move in a scene, ” she explained. “Do we need stretch panels? And where? Is this safe for a stunt? Do we need a flatter shoe? Pants instead of a skirt?”

For several years she served as a costumer, a craftsperson who assists a costume designer with sourcing materials, sewing and maintaining wardrobe continuity, where organization and memorization are essential. That role continues to inform every design choice she makes today, particularly on action-heavy productions like HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama television series, “The Last of Us,” where costume must balance realism, storytelling and performer safety.

“That’s a huge part of my job — working closely with stunts to make sure costumes support the scene and keep people comfortable and safe.”

Foley is known for her deeply collaborative approach across departments to include actors, directors, hair stylists, makeup artists and props.

On season two of “The Last of Us,” Foley worked especially closely with the latter building worlds through clothing.

Her work on the series, which earned multiple Emmy Award nominations during her time with the show, includes the introduction of two feuding factions, the militaristic Washington Liberation Front and the cult-like, religious Seraphites. Each central to the season’s storyline, they are built with distinct palettes, textures and histories that communicate character before dialogue ever does.

“If the actors don’t believe in what they’re wearing, it shows on screen,” Foley said. “They have to inhabit these characters.”

“Watch everything. Read everything. Study architecture, photography, old films, new films. Those references live in your brain, and they come back when you’re designing, and when you’re communicating ideas.”

— Ann Foley

Georgia Southern’s Lasting Influence

Though Foley’s path veered sharply from merchandising into film, she credits Georgia Southern with preparing her in unexpected ways.

“Not necessarily the major itself,” she said, “but the way all those classes train your brain.”

She recalled a chemistry professor explaining that long, frustrating problems were teaching students how to memorize and retain complex information, which is something Foley now relies on daily.

“That stuck with me,” she said. “Especially as a costumer. Memorization became huge for me.”

Foley also values the formative experience of living independently for the first time while learning responsibility and discipline.

“I had a great time at Georgia Southern,” she says. “It was wonderful.”

Looking Back and Forward

While Foley’s career spans film and television well beyond “The Last of Us,” with a reputation for craftsmanship, ingenuity and emotional precision, she still remembers the leap of faith it took to leave Georgia and chase an uncertain future.

“When I look back, I can’t believe I did that,” she said. “I was 22, and I had no idea what the future held.”

That uncertainty is exactly what she encourages students to embrace.

“Just go for it,” Foley said. “What’s the worst that happens? Someone says no. The best is someone says yes, like they did for me.”

To stay grounded, she relies on the teams she works with, many of whom become extended family during long productions.

“Surround yourself with people who lift you up and make you better,” she said. “That’s everything.”

Her advice for aspiring creatives is simple but powerful: build your internal library.

“Watch everything. Read everything. Study architecture, photography, old films, new films,” she noted. “Those references live in your brain, and they come back when you’re designing, and when you’re communicating ideas.”

Dreams, it turns out, not only begin at Georgia Southern, but continue to call you back.

“I still have dreams about driving between Statesboro and Savannah,” Foley said with a smile. “It’s kind of nice. Magee’s in Statesboro was my favorite hangout. Best chicken fingers on the planet!” — Melanie Bowden Simón