Christopher Vergara (he/him/él) is a queer Latino freelance costume designer, educator, and social activist. His design work spans theatre, musicals, opera, dance, and live events and is rooted in culturally responsive design, storytelling, education, and social justice. The son of immigrant parents, he was born and raised in New York City, where he is currently based.

Christopher’s career began in Panama with his paternal grandmother, María Teresa Pacheco Rodriguez. Her grandchildren called her Nana. She wanted to be a nurse, but her parents told her that nurses were spinsters and that she needed to learn a trade she could use at home, so she studied to become a seamstress. Christopher grew up learning to sew by peering over Nana’s shoulder as she worked on an old but mighty Singer. His sewing lessons were a covert operation between him and his Nana because this type of “feminine” work was highly discouraged for boys. 

Two weeks into his classical vocal studies at Valparaiso University, he found his way to the costume shop in the Center for the Arts basement, searching for a job. The shop manager asked him if he could sew on an industrial machine. He said yes, which was not entirely true. Nevertheless, he booked his first job in the costume industry.

 After graduating, he completed The Professional Internship Program of The Juilliard School in costumes. Christopher was the Resident Costume Designer at the Brevard Music Festival, designing productions such as La Traviata, Kiss Me Kate, Pirates of Penzance, and Madame Butterfly. He then became the Director of Costumes for Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo, where he designed new ballets, oversaw remounts, and toured throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

Christopher has worked in various venues in New York City, from La Mama Experimental Theater to the Public Theater’s New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park to Broadway. His Broadway associate credits include Free Man of Color (Lincoln Center Theater), The Visit (Lyceum), People in the Picture (Roundabout), Eclipsed* (Golden) *Tony Award for Best Costumes for a Play) The Color Purple (Jacobs), Once on this Island (Circle in the Square), and The Kite Runner (Hayes).

Internationally, Christopher has premiered several ballets in Europe and Japan for Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. He was the Associate Designer for the National Theater’s production of Here Lies Love, Disney’s recent West End Revival of Beauty and the Beast, and the first musical ever produced at the historic Felsenreitschule (Salzburg Festival) West Side Story, starring Cecilia Bartoli. Most recently, and during the pandemic, he designed Once: A Night-Time Spectacular for VinWonders, in Phú Quốc, Vietnam.

As an educator, Christopher has been a guest lecturer at universities across the US and Latin America. He was a guest teaching designer for Princeton University’s production of Macbeth at the McCarter Center. Christopher has been a guest speaker for Rutgers University’s graduate costume design students on the role of the assistant. Additionally, he has presented at the Kennedy Center American Theater Festival. Furthermore, Christopher was a bipoc mentor for the Roundabout Theater Company’s Theatrical Development Workforce Program and a mentor for the Wingspace Theatrical Design Mentorship Program. He was an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Design for Stage & Film of New York University, co-teaching Public Collaboration with Oskar Eustis, Suzi Lori Parks, Justin Townsend, and Carl Cofield. He was the inaugural Designer-in-Residence and guest lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Drama at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. 

Christopher strongly advocates for a decolonized, anti-racist theater in the United States. His advocacy work centers around the environment and its intersection with race and class; as well as immigration, specifically providing access to recreational, cultural, and educational experiences to unaccompanied migrant minors in detention centers. Christopher crafted and got approved the memorial at the latest church-wide assembly of the Lutheran Church in America to declare this national organization a sanctuary denomination publicly. Recently Christopher was awarded the Social Justice Award by the New York State Council of Churches and the Outstanding Friends of Immigrants Award from Seafarers International House for his advocacy work with unaccompanied migrant minors. Most recently, he curated the Divinity from the Discarded: A Fashion, Apparel and Garment Design Exhibition for the Walton Center for the Arts, centered around upcycling design in fashion.

He is a member of Gotham Knights Rugby Football Club, where he competes in domestic and international tournaments. Gotham has awarded Christopher with the Forward of the Year and Mother of the Year awards. Furthermore, he has been inducted into the Order of the Blue Dragon and most recently into the Order of the Golden Dragon, the highest distinction the club awards its members.

A proud member of IATSE – USA 829, Wingspace, Design Action, and La Gente: Latinx Theatre Design Network.