About Yaya Han

Yaya Han is a costume designer, cosplay entertainer, and author based in Atlanta, GA. She discovered the unique creative pastime of cosplay at Anime Expo in 1999 as a young fan, with no prior trained skills in sewing or crafting. However, Yaya has always been artistic, especially with pen and ink illustrations, so she quickly absorbed the heart and soul of costume making. Yaya is completely self-taught, mostly due to a lack of funds and resources to enroll in classes for fashion or costume design. At the beginning, she could only afford a used $40 sewing machine and a sewing book from a thrift store. Yaya credits persistence and repeated failure as her greatest teachers in costume creation. To this day, she has made close to 400 costumes in the genres of anime/manga, comic books, video games, sci-fi, and her own original designs.

Over the years, Yaya has built a successful business in the cosplay community, creating a popular cosplay accessories line that is available online and at conventions, as well as her line of Yaya Han Brand merchandising. He

But, no matter where cosplay has taken her professionally, Yaya strives to stay true to what got her into this field originally—fun and creativity. Intricate and lavish creations have won awards and acclaim nationwide, and she has been invited to appear as a Guest, Panelist, Judge, Performer and Host at over 100 conventions and other events all over the world. Yaya’s impact on the world of cosplay has been so great that she has been a Guest Judge on 2 seasons of TBS TV Network’s “King of the Nerds” competition show, featured in a documentary about cosplay called “Cosplay – Crafting a Secret Identity”, as well as is starring in the Syfy (Space) TV Network Docu-Series “Heroes of Cosplay.”

Through hard work, unmatched passion, and infectious enthusiasm, Yaya has helped cosplay gain respect and integrity as an art form in the fandom world and art communities, and her decade-long campaign for creativity has helped raise cosplay to the standards we know today. Every day, Yaya continues to pave thepath for the beloved art and lifestyle we know as Costume Play.

From JINX COSPLAY

Since I can remember, I held a controller in my hands and had anime in my blood. My mom was always at her sewing machine, sewing us clothes, costumes, or pillowcases. And then there was San Diego Comic-con 1996, where I saw people prancing in costume and I was hooked. A few years later in 2001, I told my mom I wanted to make a costume of Rinoa Heartilly from Final Fantasy 8 and she was eager to help me! Thus a cosplayer was born.