Our Story

Amaranth Costume Designs was launched in 2021, and is founded on making you feel confident and comfortable in one-of-a-kind pieces you can feel good about wearing.

 

Owner, designer, and maker Karianna Barr has been sewing for over twenty years, and has been creating and selling commissions for nearly a decade. Her goal in opening Amaranth Costume Designs is to use sustainably sourced materials to bring joy to your closet. We are available at all times for your questions, concerns, or ideas, and pride ourselves in exceptional customer service. Buying a garment – especially a costume meant to take you to another time, place, or world – should never be stressful. We hope our pieces bring you as much as joy as it brought us to make them, because Joy is Timeless. 

Our Purpose

Amaranth Costumes Designs is a historical-based and fantasy costume and commissions shop. By not binding ourselves to historical accuracy, we are able to use reclaimed and ethical materials that are more comfortable and accessible. And because we are bringing new life to re-sourced textiles, you can be sure that everything you buy is the only piece like it in the world.

 

We promise that at least 80% of our materials are sustainable, reclaimed, or recycled, and we aim to support small and local businesses – especially those owned by BIPOC and women – across the U.S.

Working with Karianna

Karianna Boykin (she/her) is a native of Washington, DC, and been sewing and creating for over 25 years. Raised in a family of makers, designers, and seamstresses – starting with her Great-Grandmother who immigrated to the U.S. from Sweden – Karianna has always known the joy of creating something from nothing. 

 

Karianna began alterations, commissions, and selling her own designs nearly a decade ago under KaBarCreations. Over time, her vision evolved, and Amaranth Costume Designs was born. Karianna has worked in customer and client services for nearly fifteen years, and bases Amaranth on the concept that YOU are our focus, above all else.

 

When not creating, Karianna works in nonprofit fundraising, bartends, and lives with her amazing partner, cats, and rabbit. 

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