The Mindset to Reimagine Little House on the Prairie with Mitchell Travers

Come for Little House on the Prairie. Stay for one of the great conversations we've had about living a creative life. Costume designer Mitchell Travers joins Voice of Costume for one of our favorite conversations in the history of the show—a deeply thoughtful look inside the new Little House on the Prairie, and an unexpectedly inspiring conversation about creativity, history, collaboration, and building a meaningful career. For fans who grew up with the beloved Michael Landon series, Mitchell explains why this new Little House isn't intended as a reboot, but a fresh interpretation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books—one that approaches the familiar story through Laura's eyes and expands parts of the American story audiences may not have seen before. And the details are fascinating. Mitchell reveals how Laura's hand-me-down dresses literally tell the history of the Ingalls family through faded dyes, patches and wear; why getting the historically accurate foundations underneath the costumes was so important; and how one massive river sequence required eight versions of Laura's dress, along with costumes engineered for stunt performers, water and child actors. The result is costume design doing something almost invisible: telling us who these people are before anyone says a word. Mitchell also opens up about the production's collaboration with Osage artists and cultural consultants, including the profound experience of visiting Osage Nation and discovering things that books, photographs and research simply couldn't teach him. His takeaway—that authentic representation requires not one voice but a chorus of voices—becomes one of the episode's most meaningful discussions. But some of the best moments aren't really about clothes at all. Mitchell talks candidly about spending years as an assistant, why he doesn't believe careers are built around one magical "big break," why relationships and kindness matter, and how he handles enormous creative pressure: solve the problem in front of you instead of wasting energy becoming overwhelmed. And for fans already looking ahead, Mitchell offers just enough of a tease about Season 2—a different world, new characters, new storylines, a new visual direction, and a finale requiring more preparation than anything they've attempted before. This is an episode about costume design—but it's also about how great creative work gets made, how careers are built slowly, and why curiosity, gratitude and collaboration still matter.