Cosplay Queen: New Brunswick artist's handmade costumes attract thousands of followers online, celebrity commissions

New Brunswicker Jillea Godin’s elaborate cosplay pieces attract thousands to her online accounts, as well as celebrities requesting their own pieces.

For Jillea Godin, Halloween is a yearlong celebration.

The Quispamsis, N.B., woman has been creating her own costumes, or cosplay, for 13 years. Her love of the craft began at 17 years old while living in Toronto. She was working as a recording artist when a friend invited Godin to her first Comicon convention.

“I had no clue what it was,” explains Godin from her home. “She said we had to dress up, and I said, ‘What do you mean dress up?’ I thought that sounded amazing, because I’m always the queen of Halloween in my friend group. Everybody came to me to get their Halloween costumes made when I was a teenager. I thought ‘This is Halloween every single day? I want to go to this.’”

Now 30 years old, Godin says she was amazed people could create “movie-quality costumes” in their basement.

“Seeing people just be so good at so many things in one costume. You’re talking 3D printing leather work, sewing, beadwork, sculpting, airbrushing… there were just so many different mediums. It was just really inspiring to me.”

Godin fell deep into the art but kept her cosplay work offline until six years ago, instead putting her social media presence primarily on her music career. When she finally did start posting her pieces, her social media following increased dramatically.