From Math Class to the Big Screen–An Unexpected Journey

Watching the “Muppets Most Wanted” movie with his daughter, Dean of Students Jimmy Franklin noticed a distinctive name in the closing credits.

Rahel Afiley is not an everyday moniker; it was clearly familiar to the long-time dean of students.

“I was watching a movie with Sophia and I happened to see her name,” Franklin says. “I Googled her – I knew it had to be “our” Rahel.”

Afiley, a graduate of the Tallulah Falls School Class of 1992, now lives and works in Los Angeles as a freelance costume designer for

Walt Disney Pictures (2011)

TFS Alum Rahel Afiley dreams in living color

the television and motion picture industry.

Her career path didn’t take a traditional route, but it was clear to those who knew her in high school she was destined for something creative.

“I didn’t realize quite that field [costume design] existed,” Afiley says. “Essentially design is math. Constructing a costume is math. I’ve always been fascinated by numbers. A lot of my passion was math. I had a wonderful math teacher in Mrs. [Linda] Harris.”

And long-serving math teacher Linda Harris says she could never forget her former student.

“Rahel has an inner enthusiasm for life and such a positive attitude that she could not help but be successful in whatever direction she chooses to go,” Harris says. “This direction for her sounds exciting and I would love to see some examples of what she is doing. Tallulah Falls School has another winning graduate!”

After graduating from TFS, the former international boarding student enrolled at Piedmont College, where she met her husband. Originally, she set out to study business because of her affinity for math. “I quickly realized that’s not really what I wanted to do,” she says.

From Piedmont, she enrolled at the Art Institute of Atlanta. Still, she felt compelled to veer toward the business side of the arts. It wasn’t until an Atlanta fashion photographer introduced her to the world of fashion that she fully realized how to translate her gift for numbers to the field of design.

“It was adult dress up really,” she says. “Telling a story through the costume is what I do.”

From Atlanta, she moved to New York.

“That was always part of my plan,” she says.

More magazine work led to commercials, independent films and ultimately to 22 episodes of the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, where she connected with a group of creators, including high-profile director James Bobin.

Bobin also directed the Muppet movies and Dora and the Lost City of Gold.

“Every project got a little bigger,” she says.

As for designing for celebrities, Afiley says working with Miss Piggy is as thrilling as one might imagine. She dressed the iconic star for two films. In the most recent movie, Miss Piggy had 25-30 costume changes, including custom footwear. To prepare for the production, Afiley shipped a model of the swanky swine’s hoof to a French footwear design house.

“The office erupted in laughter,” Afiley says, of the designers upon opening the special delivery. “She’s such a fashion icon; it was fun to be able to play around with her outfits and it was a delight to work with such a talented actor with no concern for her waistline.”

She also worked on the recent Dora and the Lost City of Gold, a movie inspired by the popular children’s cartoon series, Dora the Explorer. The movie version of Dora is an older character,

Paramount Pictures (2019) but the film directors wanted to create something similar to the familiar shorts and top ensemble but appear more age-appropriate. Afiley was up to the challenge to make the transition from cartoon to feature film and from child to pre-teen.

“Creating for Dora was obviously fun,” she says. “She wears that outfit for most of the movie; to create that look was definitely satisfying.”

Originally from Ethiopia, Afiley enrolled at TFS when her parents were living in Norway. One of the school’s first international “ Telling a story through the costume is what I do. ”

boarding students, she credits her time at TFS as pivotal to adapting to American customs, including learning to love Lucky Charms cereal. She encourages TFS students to explore their passion and connect with classmates from across the globe.

“I have a soft spot [for TFS]; it was such a warm community,” she says, with everyone on staff welcoming the young student so far away from home.

Franklin loves recalling the story of seeing the former student’s name in the credits of such a high-profile production. “I tell the story to the fifth-graders when we go to the Jim Henson exhibit at the Center for Puppetry Arts,” he says.

Inspiring the students of today with stories of former students helps make dreams seem tangible, Franklin says.

Rahel’s costume design credits include:

• Amy Adams • Salma Hayek • Heidi Klum • Mia Farrow • Tina Fey • Danny Glover • Ray Liotta • Tony Bennett • Ty Burrell • Kevin Spacey • Mark Cuban

Walt Disney Pictures (2014)

TONES CAPS SENIOR CLASS OF 2020

Seniors brought their A-game to the Dorman Barron says. “Our seniors had to help us arrange Gymnasium on March 13 as they presented additional hand sanitizing stations as they were TONES capstone projects for review and assessment at the annual Capstone Fair. All Tallulah Falls School students choose a capstone topic during their junior year, job shadow or serve over the summer, then continue to research the topic during the senior year. The culminating project for the senior year requires several milestones before the final grade. Other requirements include an extensive research paper and a 10-minute speech, evaluated by community members. According to Capstone Advisor Dallas Barron, the Capstone Fair gives students the opportunity to showcase to students, teachers, staff and parents their passion, research and experience gained from setting up fair booths.” Later that day, school officials made the first of several notifications of schedule changes that ultimately would cancel on-campus classes for the remainder of the academic year. “They thought we had all received an extended spring break. It wasn’t until after school had dismissed that afternoon that any of us realized we didn’t truly say goodbye,” Barron says. “That Friday afternoon brought on more emotions than any of us expected.” A Sample of the 62 Topics Presented: • Whitetail Deer Conservation in the South - AJ Hayes • Ocean Pollution and Ways to Reduce It - Luke Johnson their chosen topic. • The Downsides of Electric Cars - Caden Griffis • The Cost of Juvenile Diabetes - Taylor McAvoy • Mental Illnesses and its Effects on the Homeless - This year’s class didn’t know the date of the fair was Zacharias Corwin to mark the final day the group would be together • Teenage Mental Health - Yishu (Betty) Lu on campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Plans • Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome - Brenda Cochran • CTE and Concussive Brain Injuries in the NFL - already in motion for the event began to shift Babatomiwa Sofela dramatically as students were donning professional • The Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease - attire and polishing their remarks. Haokun (David) Cheng • Universal Healthcare - Mariama Bah • Traditional Chinese Medicine - Yijin (Jade) Ye “That morning started off with last-minute alterations • How Violence Affects Child Behavior - Samuel McAllister for minimizing the number of people in the gyms, • Nanotechnology - Juyeong An • ADHD Medication in Schools - Lillie Free removing handshakes from the suggested greetings • Job Displacement from Automation - Chris Geiger and having students remove all types of candy and • The Pilot Shortage - Hayden Johnson food that was not individually packaged,” • Mental Health in the American Workplace - Matthew Weidner • Government Corruption in Montenegro - Vjera Radovic • Gentrification - Alycia Morales • Human Trafficking in Nigeria - Gabe Iluma • Animal Abuse in Aquariums - Riley Barron • Social Media Fixation - Zhiyang (Yang) Shu • Teens Aging Out of Foster Care - Abby Peacock • Gender Inequality in Rwanda - Maik Murenzi • Animal Poaching in Africa - Kate Blackburn • Water Waste Management - Thomas Harris • Plant-Based Diets - Patrick Pearce • The Language Barrier in Healthcare - Sophie Alexander • America’s Obesity Epidemic: What’s Going On? - Josh Shanks • Head Injuries in Sports - Davis Jennings