Jennifer Irwin’s long-standing career in dance costume design is defined by movement, storytelling and deep creative collaboration. Across decades of work with leading choreographers and companies, including an extensive body of work with Bangarra Dance Theatre, her designs have become part of the physical language of performance. This collection brings together moments from those years: costumes that are sculpted to move, garments that carry culture and memory, and designs t

Director: Neil Armfield AO. Bold, irreverent and irresistibly entertaining, Keating! The Musical  reimagines recent Australian political history with wit, satire and unexpected heart. In Belvoir St Theatre’s production, Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs capture the show’s playful theatricality while clearly sketching the iconic figures at its centre. Her work blends sharp tailoring with heightened flourishes, supporting rapid character transformations, comedic timing and music

Director: Neil Armfield AO. Grounded in history and personal legacy, Long Forgotten Dream  is a moving exploration of family, land and the enduring impact of the past. In Neil Armfield’s Sydney Theatre Company production, Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs deepen the play’s emotional landscape, subtly reflecting identity, memory and connection through fabric, silhouette and wear. Her designs honour the characters’ cultural and personal journeys while remaining firmly rooted in

Director: Marion Potts. Witty, romantic and deeply human, Cyrano de Bergerac  unfolds with emotional scale and theatrical vibrancy in Sydney Theatre Company’s production. Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs evoke the play’s period world while placing character at the centre, from the swagger and bravado of soldiers and poets to the delicacy and strength of Roxane. Through considered use of silhouette, detail and texture, her designs support both the linguistic sparkle of the tex

Baleen Moonjan  is a powerful cross-cultural performance work presented at the Adelaide Festival, weaving together dance, music and visual storytelling to explore connection to sea Country and the deep relationships between people, culture and the ocean. Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs play an integral role in shaping the work’s imagery, echoing the fluidity and strength of whale movement through form, texture and silhouette. Her designs are both sculptural and organic, supp

Joyful, playful and celebratory, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony  brought the Games to a dazzling finale, filling the stadium with colour, music and theatrical spectacle. As part of the costume design team, Jennifer Irwin created large-scale costumes that captured Australia’s humour, spirit and creative exuberance. Her designs were engineered for stamina and movement, supporting complex choreography and large cast performances while delivering bold visual impac

A global celebration watched by millions, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony  remains one of the most iconic live events in Australian history. As a key costume designer, Jennifer Irwin helped shape the visual identity of the ceremony, creating large-scale costume designs that celebrated Australia’s stories, landscapes and diverse cultures. Her work balanced spectacle with authenticity, engineering garments for mass movement, complex choreography and stadium-scale

Director: Stephen Page. Presented as part of the Sydney Festival, Vigil  is a powerful and contemplative work that brings together music, movement and image in a tribute to strength, loss and collective memory. Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs are central to the work’s atmosphere, shaping a visual language that is both intimate and ceremonial. Through restrained silhouettes, layered textures and thoughtful detailing, her designs support the performers’ physicality while deepe

Directed by David Wenham. Part of the acclaimed feature film The Turning , David Wenham’s segment “The Commission”  explores themes of memory, regret and reconnection with a striking visual and emotional intensity. Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs subtly trace the inner worlds of the characters, using texture, tone and wear to reflect histories that are carried on the body. Her work supports Wenham’s nuanced storytelling while allowing the performances and landscape to remain

Director: Stephen Page. Striking, poetic and visually powerful, Spear  tells a contemporary Indigenous story through dance, image and gesture. Directed by Stephen Page, the film unfolds with minimal dialogue, allowing movement and landscape to carry its emotional weight.   Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs are integral to this visual language, grounding each character in culture, identity and journey. Her work blends sculptural simplicity with symbolic detail, creating costume

Director: Stuart Maunder. Sweeping, romantic and ultimately heartbreaking, Romeo & Juliet unfolds with cinematic intensity on the Sydney Opera House stage. Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs illuminate the tension between innocence and conflict at the heart of Shakespeare’s tragedy, contrasting youthful vibrancy with the formality of feuding families. Her use of silhouette, texture and colour deepens character and mood — from tender moments of first love to the stark inevitabi

Director: Graeme Murphy AO. Poetic, intimate and beautiful, Madame Butterfly  unfolds with visual restraint and emotional depth on the Sydney Opera House stage. Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs honour the delicacy and symbolism of Puccini’s world, blending refined period detail with a painterly sense of colour and form. Her costumes chart Cio-Cio San’s journey with subtle shifts in silhouette and tone, supporting the production’s atmosphere of longing, honour and quiet streng

Director: Graeme Murphy AO. Sparkling with wit, romance and old-world glamour, The Merry Widow enchants audiences in Opera Australia’s 2019 Sydney Opera House season. Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs capture the elegance of Belle Époque Paris — from opulent ballroom gowns and refined tailoring to playful splashes of colour and flirtation. Each costume is crafted to move with the sweeping waltzes and ensemble choreography, while revealing character, status and emotion with su

Director: Francesca Zambello. West Side Story  explodes with raw emotion and cinematic scale in Opera Australia’s HOSH production directed by Francesca Zambello. Jennifer Irwin’s costume design anchors the timeless story in its gritty, urban world while infusing it with striking colour, texture and movement suited to the grandeur of the harbour stage. Her designs sharpen the visual language, supporting identity, rivalry and belonging, while allowing the choreography to pulse

Director: Shaun Rennie. Set against the glittering backdrop of Sydney Harbour, Guys & Dolls  bursts to life in Opera Australia’s spectacular HOSH 2025 production. Jennifer Irwin’s costume design celebrates the musical’s larger-than-life world; from sharp-suited gamblers and vivid New York street life to the glamour and playfulness of Hot Box showgirls. Her designs balance period authenticity with bold theatrical flair, ensuring every character is instantly readable, dynamic,

Director: Frederico Bellone. Electrifying, nostalgic and irresistibly romantic, Dirty Dancing, The Classic Story on Stage  brings the iconic film to life on stage with dynamic choreography and sweeping emotion. Jennifer Irwin’s costume designs honour the beloved 1960s setting while giving the production a fresh theatrical energy. Every garment is created for movement, partnering seamlessly with the choreography to heighten rhythm, heat and connection on stage, ensuring audien