Meet Dominique Dawson, The Costume Designer Behind Sony Animation’s Bold New Film, ‘GOAT’

The San Francisco native steps into new territory: animation.

Audiences should expect the movie theater to be a jungle thanks to GOAT which opened at the box office Feb.13. Blending global sports culture, next-generation animation and fearless creativity, the Sony Pictures Animation film arrives with serious pedigree, backed by the artists behind K-Pop Demon Hunters and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and a production team that includes four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry (who also lends his voice to Lenny the giraffe).

While audiences are sure to be enamored by a cast of athletic animals, the film’s immersive world is stitched together by Emmy-nominated costume designer Dominique Dawson—a multidisciplinary creative whose bold, story-driven work has helped shape projects like Ava DuVernay’s Origin, Donald Glover’s Swarm, and Jordan Peele’s HIM.

With GOAT, the San Francisco native steps into new territory: animation. The original action-comedy centers on Will, a small goat who has a chance to achieve his wildest dream—playing professional roarball, a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport, dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world.

Dawson says she approached the GOAT project intent on building a world that felt culturally grounded and visually authentic.

“I really wanted to step into the world of Vineland,” Dawson tells BLACK ENTERPRISE. “The climate and the actual landscaping of the town is very jungle vibes. It’s hot. There’s a lot of hills—a lot to navigate. So we knew that we couldn’t do a lot of layering with big coats because it just wouldn’t make sense.”

To construct that realism in GOAT, Dawson immersed herself in research.

“I built out decks and jumped into looking at animal movements and anatomy and understanding the different species,” she explained. “Then we jumped into what do these animals do for a living? Being able to have that hierarchy—careers, lawyers, doctors, construction workers—that dictated a lot of their looks.”

For Dawson, animation unlocked a level of creative freedom rarely possible in live action.

“Typically, I have to figure out how I can get my hands on this couture piece—is it going to arrive on time? Is it going to be two times smaller than what they said initially? None of those worries were part of my thinking, which is so freeing,” she says. “I really just got to have at it.

That freedom proved especially important when designing Jett Fillmore, the league’s celebrated MVP, voiced by Gabrielle Union.

“I wanted Jett to feel powerful,” Dawson says. “I played with power suits in the beginning. What I learned is by showing more of her frame, you actually get a better understanding of her swag and femininity.”

She adds, “It still feels like she’s on that line of masculine, feminine vibes.”

The scale of work was massive.

“Even just for one rendering of Jett’s looks, we would do like 60 versions that had all different colorways, adjustments and detailing—and that’s just for one outfit. The main issue was the catwalk looks. That was really where we wanted to make a statement.”

The attention to character extended across the roster, particularly to Will, the undersized rookie determined to prove that “smalls can ball.”

“I studied a lot of street ball—courts like the Rucker and West 4^th,” Dawson says. “He’s the one small who, when he comes to the court, wants to appear at least as big as he can. So going in a slimmed-down silhouette is not going to service him. He wants to bulk it out.”

Dawson’s solution was to put Will in a baggier hoodie, layered over longer tees to exaggerate his presence.

“Showing his progression and growth as he gets drafted, he stays in practice gear out the gate, then you get to see him step out in a deconstructed bomber jacket and a variety of looks that show he’s got some paper now, and he can express himself in that way.”

While roarball exists in an all-animal universe, it’s aesthetic is deeply rooted in recognizable cultural touchpoints. Dawson’s own experiences helped anchor that authenticity.

“I grew up playing basketball, so I have a really strong knowledge of the sport,” she says. “I looked at gladiator-type vibes and attending a lot of games myself. I’m a sports fan. I just got off doing two football movies back-to-back, so I have a very clear understanding of fandom and all of that. The gladiator thing added a larger component because this is a global league…The stakes are high and it’s do or die, so we really wanted to showcase that.”

The result is a film that feels both imaginative and familiar. Animation also allowed Dawson to explore design possibilities that would have been impractical or unsafe in live action.

“Modo is one of my favorite characters,” Dawson says, referencing the Komodo dragon voiced by Nick Kroll who is one of the film’s most kinetic characters. “If an actor was wearing tight denim pants with all these belts and piercings, there would be concern about safety…Him doing flips and all of the action and quirkiness he does. We were free of that, and that’s when technology really came into play.”

GOAT’s filmmakers leaned into advanced tools across productions. Recent technical gains have made it possible to render “complex characters, with fur, hair, layered garments and accessories,” a challenge that required teams to carefully balance visual detail within each frame.

For Dawson, those tools, enhanced the emotional impact.

“There was a holographic effect put on the jerseys…it kind of entered this surreal space,” she explains. “Those moments really hit and had an impact.”

While her work happens largely behind the scenes, Dawson sees costume design as foundational to narrative.

“The union that I’m part of has a whole running campaign called ‘Naked Without Us,’ and that really says it all. If there were no costume designers, it really would be a bunch of actors just walking around naked. We are a huge story component.”

As a graduate of the director’s program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Dawson approaches each project through a storytelling lens.

“Every choice that we make for the screen needs to support and elevate the story and push it forward,” she says. “I always look to the text—the script—but I also look at it like painting. If there’s too much red over here…there’s a balance in looking at the energies of characters.”

After designing more than 160 episodes of television and collaborating with visionary filmmakers, Dawson remains motivated by creative risk.

“I love the weird. I love strange,” she says. “I’m very much into showing things that we don’t typically see. I’m not just like, ‘Oh, I want to do the standard commercial vibe.’ That’s not me at all.”

That spirit made GOAT a natural fit—a project she describes as grounded in empowerment.

“The main objective is really body positivity and embracing all sizes and empowerment of everyone,” Dawson says. “We really wanted the costumes to reflect that.”

Dawson sees more animation projects in her future.

“Most definitely,” she says when asked about returning to the medium. “You’re on Zoom with illustrators in South Africa or Paris or Canada, and you’re getting to make magic over the computer from home. I love it.”

As animation continues to push the boundaries of technology, culture, and storytelling, designers like Dawson are shaping how audiences connect before a single line is spoken. And if GOAT is any indication, she’s only just getting started.