Dede Ayite

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

Broadway^[6]

• Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill (2014) - Assistant Costume Design
• The Gin Game (2015) - Associate Costume Design
• In Transit (2016) - Associate Costume Design
• Children of a Lesser God (2018) - Costume Design
• American Son (2018) - Costume Design
• Slave Play (2019, 2021) - Costume Design
• A Soldier's Play (2019) - Costume Design
• Chicken & Biscuits (2021) - Costume Design
• American Buffalo (2022) - Costume Design
• How I Learned to Drive (2022) - Costume Design
• Topdog/Underdog (2022) - Costume Design
• Ohio State Murders (2022) - Costume Design
• Jaja's African Hair Braiding (2023) - Costume Design
• Appropriate (2023) - Costume Design
• Days of Wine and Roses (2024) - Costume Design
• Hell's Kitchen (2024) - Costume Design
• Home (2024) Costume Design
• Our Town (2024) - Costume Design
• Purpose (2025) - Costume Design
• Buena Vista Social Club (2025) - Costume Design
• Othello (2025) - Costume Design
• The Last Five Years (2025) - Costume Design
• Proof (2026) - Costume Design

Select Off-Broadway and Regional^[14]

• Ugly Lies the Bone (2015, Roundabout)
• The Last Tiger in Haiti (2016, La Jolla Playhouse, Berkeley Rep)
• Bella: An American Tall Tale (2017, Playwrights Horizon)
• BLKS (2017, Steppenwolf)
• Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train (2017, Signature)
• Slave Play (2018, NYTW)
• School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play (2018, MCC)
• Secret Life of Bees (2019, Atlantic)
• By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2019, Signature)

Awards

Outer Critics Circle Awards

Drama Desk Awards

Lucille Lortel Awards

Tony Awards

References

1. ^ Theater, Lincoln Center. "Dede Ayite: The Beauty of Research | Lincoln Center Theater". Lincoln Center Theater. Archived 2026-04-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
2. ^ Kumar, Naveen (2020-11-09). "How Dede Ayite, Tony-Nominated Costume Designer, Is Fighting to End Racism on Broadway". The Daily Beast. Archived 2020-12-04 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
3. ^ Kirschner, Marilyn (2025-06-07). "New Subscriber Profile: Trailblazing Costume Designer, Dede Ayite". lookonline. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
4. ^ 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. ^ "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 2025-01-24 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2026-04-18.
10. ^ 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.