Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1010567
12 The Costume Designer Summer 2018 I have spent my career surrounded by strong women. I learned under Costume Designers Rosanna Norton, Elsa Zamparelli, and Marlene Stewart. I have worked with amazing producers, Mindy Kaling and Elizabeth Banks, and I have worked with costume supervisor Gala Autumn for over a decade. Having led an organiza- tion with a majority of women for the last five years, I have seen the strength and power of amazing women. So it's gratifying to see that women are finally getting recognition for their strength and perseverance. Our CDG magazine cover story celebrates the strength of women and I salute you all! We publish The Costume Designer four times a year and we have always tried to be neutral about whom we feature on the cover and in the magazine during awards season, so as not to imply an endorsement. But now we seem to always be in an awards season so this has really limited who we can feature. With over 1,000 members, we have so much to celebrate and we were not able to showcase our members and their work properly. We are the Costume Designers Guild and we want to feature our members. Your Executive Board has decided that we believe we should be telling the stories of our members, so moving forward, we are not going to shy away from putting our members in the magazine. If someone is up for an award, it should not preclude them from having their story told. The Emmy nominations have been announced and we look forward to all the celebrations around the awards, including the much-anticipated FIDM Museum's Art of Television Costume Design Exhibition open- ing party on August 18. I went to Comic-Con to see the hard work our committee puts in to participate in this incredible event. Their passion for this project shows in their work. It's a well-oiled machine and they make the CDG shine! I want to thank the committee and our sponsors for all their support. I am a big fan of Cher, and recently I had the opportunity to see a preview of The Cher Show musical in Chicago. I contacted Bob Mackie, who is designing the spectacular costumes for the show, and got to say hello to him and his assistant Joe McFate as they were in the audience that night. To make the evening even more magical, Cher was in the audience too! The musical is about Cher's life and features the four most important men in her life: Sonny Bono, Gregg Allman, Rob Camilletti, and, of course, Bob Mackie. Watching the show and seeing how much of an impact Cher's Costume Designer made in her life was very exciting. As Costume Designers, we have the power to make people shine, but we don't always get the credit we deserve. I'm so glad that Bob is being celebrated in such a wonderful way! The show opens on Broadway in November. You all need to go see it! In solidarity, Salvador Perez sperez@cdgia.com PRESIDENT'S LETTER UNION LABEL "...it's gratifying to see that women are finally getting recognition for their strength and perseverance."