Rayneese Primrose is a costume technician and designer with a great appreciation for the art of fine tailoring and a passion for textiles. Rayneese earned her B.F.A in Fashion Design from Pratt Institute School of Design, as well as a minor in Art History studies. She currently works for the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center as a costume maker. In her free time outside of the Opera’s busy 35-week season, she designs under her own name for private clients, and creates costumes for the TV/Film/Theater industry as a member of IATSE 764. Credits include: Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark, Disney on Ice productions, and work for entertainment icons such as costumes for Madonna’s recent tour and Heidi Klum.
Rayneese enjoys working with students as a private tutor and enrichment teacher across many areas of interests, from primary education to college undergraduates. She has taught classes in the past for Pratt Institute’s Saturday Art program, America Reads/Counts, and has worked as an advisor to prospective pre-college applicants on successful portfolio preparation. In 2010, Rayneese worked for the Angel Rock Foundation and CNN mentoring pre-teen students from the NYC area as they traveled to South Africa as part of a “Empowering Youth Through Global Service” initiative . The experience provided the youth with a rich cultural experience through a partnership with South African Tourism, but also provided an empowering experience on service and studying socio-economic class structures.
Recognizing the importance of allowing students a degree of self-expression alongside their vigorous studies, Rayneese believes educational moments such as these are cherished and fulfilling. Being able to recognize and facilitate a student’s potential and talents in exploring new passions is a reward on its own, one that Rayneese appreciates and is thankful for. She believes that encouraging a student to develop their own voice draws out the brilliance in students, and they use this knowledge to deepen their understanding of whatever they wish to pursue in life more genuinely and sincerely.
In addition to her time at Pratt, Rayneese is also finishing up a B.S degree in business technology from the Fashion Institute of Technology. In her free time, she enjoys browsing through literature at Barnes & Noble, traveling, making her own garments, and people-watching to observe the many diverse styles and fashions of people throughout the city.
