Steven Norman Lee (M.F.A., Theatre, 2001), an award-winning costume designer for Dancing with the Stars and The Masked Singer, will address graduates of the UT College of Fine Arts Class of 2025. The ceremony takes place Friday, May 9 at 11:30 a.m. in Bass Concert Hall on the UT campus.
“With a career defined by creativity, craftsmanship and a deep passion for storytelling through costume, Steven Norman Lee continues to bring innovative and striking designs to some of television’s most visually dynamic productions,” said Ramón H. Rivera-Servera, dean of the College of Fine Arts. “We’re thrilled to welcome him to campus to share an inspiring message with our graduating students.”
An accomplished costume designer with an extensive career spanning television, theater and live performance, Lee received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Irvine, before pursuing an M.F.A. in Theatre, focusing on costume design in the Department of Theatre and Dance. During his time at The University of Texas at Austin, he received a prestigious internship through the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Internship Program in the category of costume design. This experience allowed him to shadow and learn from a variety of industry professionals, gaining hands-on exposure to costume design and production across episodic television, soap operas and made-for-television movies.
After completing his graduate studies, Lee returned to Los Angeles and taught as a guest professor and costume designer at the Claremont Colleges, which allowed him to share his expertise and passion for costume design with students while further refining his own craft.
Before moving into television, he designed costumes for theatrical productions at East West Players and the Lee Strasberg Theatre. His television career began when he was hired as a costume production assistant on HBO’s Carnivàle and ABC’s Alias. His dedication and talent quickly led to a promotion to assistant costume designer on Alias.
In 2006, he joined the costume department of Dancing with the Stars as an assistant costume designer. He was promoted to lead costume designer for the show in 2009. Over almost two decades and 31 seasons of the show, Lee has designed an extraordinary range of costumes, dressing everyone from actors and singers to astronauts and Olympic athletes.
In addition to Dancing with the Stars, Lee served as the costume designer for America’s Got Talent between 2010 and 2016. For that show, Lee created costume designs for singers, magicians, comedians, animals and even danger acts. With such a wide variety of talent on the show, Lee stretched himself to create an incredible range of costumes unlike any other show.
Lee joined The Masked Singer as a costume designer in its 10th season and continues to design for the current 13th season. Working alongside a team of highly skilled mask makers, fabricators and artisans in a large-scale workroom, Lee oversees the creation of elaborate, sculpted masks and intricately detailed costumes. Each design is meticulously crafted, from hand-painted textures to innovative structures that allow for both spectacle and movement of the incognito singers.
Lee’s work has been recognized with multiple industry accolades, including five Emmy Award nominations and eight Costume Designers Guild Award nominations. In February, he won the Costume Designers Guild Award in the category of Costume Design for Variety, Reality and TV Specials for his work on The Masked Singer.