Pay attention to the vocabulary: we are talking about cosplay, costume at the limit… But above all, no disguise : “It has nothing to do” explains Emilie, dressed as a character from Street Fighter. “In cosplay there is ‘cos’ for the costume, and ‘play’ for the game. We live the character, it’s almost like theatre”. It’s good this idea of incarnation which is the essence of cosplay: “If we take a clown for example: we are not just going to dress up as any clown” explains Chouchou, co-founder of the League of Extraordinary Cosplayers. “We will choose a specific clown, that of such and such a series, and embody him: adopt his gestures, his way of speaking“.
– Mathilde Cariou
Contrary to what one might think, the cosplay does not come from Japan but from the United States. “Over there, the cosplayers make it a point of honor to make their own outfits,” explains Chouchou. “On the contrary in Japan, there is no problem with buying a complete outfit, but the important thing is to fully embody the character. In France it’s a mix of the two: some buy , others create.
This is the other breaking point with simple disguise: personal and financial investment in every cosplay project. Chloé, for example, cosplayed as Flora Enchantix, spent hours building wings of around one meter each: “I imagined it as a sandwich of foam and fabric, with wire for maintain the structure. Emilie, for her part, realized five version of her outfit before arriving at the correct one : “I spent hours doing cross stitches with golden thread for the details of the dress”. An effort that has since paid off, since she has been wearing this costume for five years now: “It’s her last convention today, it’s a holiday!”
– Mathilde Cariou
On the exhibition site, cosplay workshops are scheduled throughout the weekend: make-up, creation of foam or resin objects, conferences, drawing… Before the big competition scheduled for Sunday, the French Cup of “All Stars” cosplay !