Chris Snik (°1970, Nl.) is a costume designer and artist based in Antwerp. She graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp in 1996, (costume design) and completed a postgraduate degree in scenography in 1997.
Her work is driven by storytelling, research, current affairs, craft, and fashion. Snik collaborates with theatre and dance companies as well as short film productions. Central to her practice is a close collaboration with performers: through observing movement and gesture of the body, she develops costumes using coupe as a key method. Materiality plays an essential role in shaping the costume and embodying the character.
Her work is driven by storytelling, research, current affairs, craft, and fashion. Snik collaborates with theatre and dance companies as well as short film productions. Central to her practice is a close collaboration with performers: through observing movement and gesture of the body, she develops costumes using coupe as a key method. Materiality plays an essential role in shaping the costume and embodying the character.
Snik’s approach is rooted in co-creation and has evolved into what she calls “slow costuming”—an integrated design method in which performer and costume develop together. This methodology was explored in her research project Character through Coupe (2021–2023) and resulted in the publication of Slow Costuming: Creating Characters through Coupe (Track Report & Mer.books, Borgerhoff & Lambrecht, 2023) at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, where she teaches and is head of the Costume Design Department.
Alongside her teaching and performance-based work, she is currently developing autonomous textile pieces. Rooted in her background in costume design, tailoring, and coupe, these works focus on craftsmanship, construction techniques, material exploration, and form, approaching textile as a sculptural practice.