Jane Robinson

Jane Robinson is a British costume designer. She has received various accolades, including a BAFTA Television Award and three Emmy Awards, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award.

Jane Robinson was born in Manchester and studied at Manchester College of Art, and later in Los Angeles. Early in her career, Robinson worked in London fashion houses before starting work in costume in 1968. She joined Thames TV as a costume designer and in 1974 was nominated for an Emmy award for Lady Randolph Churchill.

Robinson's costumes for Brideshead Revisited (1981), a miniseries adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel, was also nominated for an Emmy award, and won a BAFTA for costume design. Recent critics have summarised the costume approach as "not ... extravagant and flashy. Instead, the look is comfortable old-money elegance". The series was produced with great attention to period detail and accuracy. The New York Times reported that "Miss Robinson was free to ply her trade with relatively few restraints - to research the fashion of the day, making choices that would help express character, while enhancing the look of each sequence". This included details like using an old school tie as a belt for 'oxford bags', and dressing shipboard scenes in shades of blue and grey.

In 2025, fashion magazine Harpers Bazaar listed Brideshead Revisited as one of "the best period dramas of all time".

Awards and nominations AwardYearCategoryWorkResult Academy Awards 1989 Best Costume Design A Handful of Dust British Academy Television Craft Awards 1975 Best Design Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill 1982 Best Costume Design Brideshead Revisited Primetime Emmy Awards 1976 Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for a Drama or Comedy Series Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill 1982 Brideshead Revisited 1987 Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna 1988 Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story 1993 Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris