Rafaella Rabinovich was born in North York, Ont., and raised in Tel Aviv and Buenos Aires. A February 2015 article from the Jewish Independent states that Rabinovich graduated from an arts high school in Israel and then served in its military. Upon finishing her service, Rabinovich “enrolled in the set and costume design program at Rakefet Levy Design School for the Performing Arts in Tel Aviv,” according to the Jewish Independent. The article adds, “Upon finishing the program in 2010, she came to British Columbia. Today, she is a respected local set and costume designer, doing what she loves and living in a place she adores.”
Rabinovich’s professional website describes her as “an internationally trained, award-winning costume designer whose work has made a lasting impact across film, television, and live performance. A proud queer artist, she brings a bold, innovative perspective to storytelling, crafting costumes that capture the essence of characters and the worlds they inhabit.”
It adds: “Her diverse career spans major projects for Netflix, CW, ABC, TBS, Disney, Lifetime, Discovery Channel, Sony and more – designing for film, television, stage, and dance. She gained widespread recognition for her work on To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before (Netflix) and earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Costume Design Project MC2 (Netflix). Her artistry has been celebrated with multiple Leo Awards, CAFTCAD Award wins and nominations, the prestigious Costume Society of America Design Award, and most recently, a Costume Designers Guild Award nomination – a career-defining achievement cementing her place as one of the industry’s top talents. Recently, Rafaella has been designing for high-profile productions, including Kung Fu (CW) and the upcoming queer, experimental series Dandyland. Between 2022 and 2024, she also designed the costumes for Peace (based on Richard Bausch’s WWII novel, directed by Robert Port), The Detour (TBS, Season 4), Broken Diamonds (starring Ben Platt and Lola Kirke, directed by Peter Sattler for Black Label Media), and The Imperfects (Netflix/Nomadic Pictures), among other projects she holds dear.” She has won a wide-range of awards for her work.
Rabinovich was featured in a 2022 profile on the IATSE union website, which described her as a member of Local 891, based in B.C. She is also listed as an “executive board member” on the Canadian Alliance of Film and Television Costume Arts and Design’s website.
Her LinkedIn profile states that she is still based in Canada.
