Jean Lamprell was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, where she started her theatrical career making period costumes for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s summer productions.

Moving to London, she worked at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, making costumes for their Opera and Ballet companies.

Emigrating to the United States, she initially worked in New York with Ray Diffen Stage Clothes and later with Barbara Matera Ltd., as principal cutter and draper.  She made period and modern clothes for Broadway shows, operas, ballets, television specials and movies.

During this time, she also attended The New York Fashion Institute of Technology for seven years, designing, draping and grading men’s, women’s and children’s modern clothes.

She returned to England to establish Jean Lamprell Ltd., Theatrical Costumiers, located in Covent Garden, London.  The new company made men’s and women’s period costumes and modern clothes for international ballet and opera companies, movie and television productions.  During this time, working with designers and dancers, she refined and developed many different tutu patterns.  These have been used in all her subsequent work, for both ballet company productions and personal tutus for principal dancers.

Her early commissions included Giselle for London Festival Ballet, Swan Lake for the Royal Ballet, David Hockney’s Rake’s Progress for the Glyndebourne Opera and Sleeping Beauty for the Washington Ballet.

Re-establishing Jean Lamprell Theatrical Costumes in the United States, she continues to make tutus and costumes for the ballet and opera, as well as conducting seminars, master classes and workshops on tutu design and construction, in Canada, Japan and the United States.