Dede Ayite

Dede Ayite
Born
Ghana
Education
AwardsTony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play (2024)

Dede Ayite is a Ghanaian-American costume designer. She won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play for her work on Jaja's African Hair Braiding, and has received 5 other Tony nominations for costume design. She is best known for her work costuming the Broadway productions of Buena Vista Social Club, Slave Play, A Soldier's Play, Hell's Kitchen, and Jaja's African Hair Braiding.

Early life and education

Ayite grew up in Ghana in West Africa.[1] In 2001, she moved to live with her mother in Silver Spring, Maryland, where she finished high school.[2]

Interested in pursuing her dual interests in science and the arts, Ayite attended Lehigh University, where she studied theater and behavioral neuroscience.[3][4] After graduating in 2007, Ayite apprenticed at Lehigh for a year managing their scene shop. After, she apprenticed at the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico.[4] She studied scenic design at the Yale School of Drama, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree.[1]

Career

In 2020, Ayite designed costumes for Slave Play and A Soldier's Play, receiving her first two Tony nominations for costume design.[2] For A Soldier's Play, Ayite carefully crafted dog tags for each character with their name, age, and religious affiliation, giving the actors something to hold as they got into character.[5] Later that year, while live theater was on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ayite formed Design Action with fellow designers. Design Action worked to address racism in the theater community and support incoming designers of color.[2]

In 2022, Ayite earned a special Drama Desk Award for having "costumed half the actors of this theatre season with her designs for “Merry Wives,” “Seven Deadly Sins,” “The Last of the Love Letters,” “Chicken and Biscuits,” “Slave Play,” “Nollywood Dreams,” “American Buffalo,” and “How I Learned to Drive,” demonstrating a knack for conveying characters' means, values, and aspirations before the actors utter a word."[6][7]

In 2023, she designed costumes for the Off-Broadway and later Broadway productions of Buena Vista Social Club, earning a Tony nomination for the latter.[8] The following year, she designed the costumes for Alicia Keys' jukebox musical Hells Kitchen, drawing inspiration from 90's street fashion.[9] This also earned her a Tony nomination.[10] She won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play for her work on Jaja's African Hair Braiding. This made her the first Black woman to win a Tony Award in this category.[11][12]

In 2025, she designed costumes for Broadway's Othello starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. Her work was praised for its modernized depiction of a historic play and for its well-researched military accuracy.[13]

Theatre credits

Awards

Outer Critics Circle Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2023 Outstanding Costume Design Topdog/Underdog Nominated [15]
2024 Jaja's African Hair Braiding Nominated [16]
2026 Goddess Nominated [17]

Drama Desk Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2018 Costume Design of a Musical Bella: An American Tall Tale Nominated [6]
Outstanding Costume Design of a Play School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play Nominated
2019 By the Way, Meet Vera Stark Nominated
If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must Be a Muhfucka Nominated
2024 Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical Buena Vista Social Club Nominated
2025 Outstanding Costume Design of a Play Our Town Won

Lucille Lortel Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2018 Outstanding Costume Design School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play Won [18]
Bella: An American Tall Tale Nominated
2019 By the Way, Meet Vera Stark Nominated [19]
2020 BLKS Nominated [20]
2024 Buena Vista Social Club Nominated [21]

Tony Awards

Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2020 Best Costume Design in a Play Slave Play Nominated [22]
A Soldier's Play Nominated
2024 Jaja's African Hair Brading Won [10]
Appropriate Nominated
Best Costume Design in a Musical Hell's Kitchen Nominated
2025 Buena Vista Social Club Nominated

References

  1. 1 2 Theater, Lincoln Center. "Dede Ayite: The Beauty of Research | Lincoln Center Theater". Lincoln Center Theater. Archived from the original on 2026-04-18. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  2. 1 2 3 Kumar, Naveen (2020-11-09). "How Dede Ayite, Tony-Nominated Costume Designer, Is Fighting to End Racism on Broadway". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  3. ↑ Kirschner, Marilyn (2025-06-07). "New Subscriber Profile: Trailblazing Costume Designer, Dede Ayite". lookonline. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  4. 1 2 Peterson, Margie (25 May 2021). "Dede Ayite '07 Uses What She Learned in Neuroscience at Lehigh to Design Costumes for Broadway. She Has Two 2020 Award Nominations". Lehigh University. Retrieved 18 April 2026.
  5. ↑ "Tonywatch: Dede Ayite's costumes always 'build up layers'". AP News. 2021-09-22. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  6. 1 2 3 "Dede Ayite". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
  7. ↑ Snook, Raven (2022-09-28). "Why Dede Ayite's Latest Award Was Worth the Wait". Theater Development Fund. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
  8. ↑ "Buena Vista Social Club - 4 Wins / 11 Nominations". Tony Awards. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
  9. ↑ Colenbrander, Ariane (2025-01-02). "Dressing Broadway: A Timeless Fashion Journey on Stage". VancouverScape. Archived from the original on 2025-01-24. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  10. 1 2 Sarmiento, Isabella Gomez (2024-06-16). "Tony Awards 2024: The complete list of winners". NPR. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
  11. ↑ Okine, Dollita (2024-06-21). "Ghana's Dede Ayite is now the first Black woman to win a Tony Award for best costume design of a play". Face2Face Africa. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
  12. ↑ Lewis, Hilary (2024-06-16). "Dede Ayite Becomes First Black Woman to Win Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  13. ↑ Wright, Aleah (2025-04-23). "How Dede Ayite Built Denzel Washington And Kimber Sprawl's Costumes For "Othello"". Essence. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
  14. ↑ "Guest Artist: Dede M. Ayite". Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
  15. ↑ Culwell-Block, Logan (2023-05-16). "Some Like It Hot Dominates 2023 Outer Critics Circle Awards; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill.
  16. ↑ Culwell-Block, Logan (2024-05-13). "Stereophonic Leads 2024 Outer Critics Circle Awards, Wins Best Play; See the Full List of Winners". Playbill.
  17. ↑ "2026 Outer Critics Circle Award Nominations Announced". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved 2026-04-21.
  18. ↑ "2018 Nominees and Recipients". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
  19. ↑ "2019 Nominees". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
  20. ↑ "2020 Nominees". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
  21. ↑ "2024 Nominees". Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved 2026-05-06.
  22. ↑ Kassal, Kobi (2021-09-26). "Tony Awards 2020 Complete Winners List". Theatrely. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
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