From MEFCC to Japan: How two friends took UAE cosplay to the world stage

Dubai: There are a few things you might expect to find in a cosplayer’s workspace: fabric, wigs, sewing machines and perhaps an alarming amount of glitter.

What you may not expect is the toxic fumes, industrial quantities of disinfectant and, as Kalypso and Vin casually point out, “the decapitated heads”. They mean mannequin heads. The kind used to style wigs. “That's normal to us,” they laugh.

For anyone outside the cosplay community, however, a quick look inside the workspace of the Dubai-based duo might raise a few questions. Why are there steamers everywhere? Why are there wigs on heads? Why can't some costumes go anywhere near a washing machine? And exactly how much rhinestoning can one person do before questioning every life decision that led them there?

Having spent nearly a decade shaping the UAE cosplay scene, these two treat every single one of those quirks as a standard day at the office.

The two are sitting together dressed as characters from The Legend of Zelda — Kalypso as Zelda from Breath of the Wild and Vin as Link from Twilight Princess.

A costume can look effortless, but it very rarely is. For this creative duo, building a look has transformed from a simple weekend hobby into something far greater: performance, competition, master-level craftsmanship, deep friendship, and most recently, representing the UAE on one of the world's biggest cosplay stages.

The pair actually met by accident at MEFCC in 2017. They were both cosplaying characters from the same universe – Undertale. Kalypso was Alphys, while Vin was Sans. They met briefly, went their separate ways and, for a while, that was that.

Their paths crossed again when Kalypso performed with her idol group, and Vin happened to be sitting in the front row.

A few Discord chats, Instagram messages and mutual friends later, Vin joined the group. Their friendship grew into a creative partnership, with the pair eventually performing, designing and competing together. “We kind of did it backwards,” Kalypso laughs.

They worked their way through smaller cosplay competitions, and performances before they went straight for one of the biggest stages in the world: the World Cosplay Summit. The pair went on to represent the UAE in Japan in 2025, finishing in the top 10.

“If someone thinks cosplay is just dressing up, it actually goes to the character of bringing it to life,” Kalypso says.

For her, that starts with thinking about who the character actually is. “When I try to bring my characters to life, I think about their mannerisms, their personality, how to act like them.”

But the storytelling doesn't stop there. Whenever she gets the opportunity to create a costume from scratch, Kalypso thinks about the fabrics, textures and techniques that can make the character feel more real.

“All of these little details might seem kind of insignificant to a lot of people,” she says, “but they end up taking what could be just a very basic costume that you can buy offline into a costume that you can breathe life into.”

Vin agrees that storytelling is one of the biggest parts of what they do. “Storytelling is a really big part in cosplay,” she says, pointing to her Link costume from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Her outfit was made from scratch, with historically accurate hand-sewn eyelets and linen fabrics chosen to reflect the medieval-inspired world the character comes from.

“These are hand-done eyelets, they're not metal,” she says. “And there's a hand-done little piece of embroidery on the bottom of my tunic.”

The research goes even further when they are working on partner costumes.

When Kalypso and Vin represented the UAE at the World Cosplay Summit, they had to think carefully about the fabrics used in their costumes and whether they made sense within the world and history of the characters they were portraying.

“We thought about kimono fabrics for our outfit and how it would make sense for two Japanese girls actually wearing those same fabrics at the same time,” Vin explains. For them, cosplay is thinking about the world the character comes from and building something that could exist inside it.

Of course, bringing that level of detail to life takes time. A lot of time.

Kalypso immediately thinks about their World Cosplay Summit costumes when asked about the most challenging things she has ever made.

The competition requires a significant amount of handmade work, and their costumes featured long-sleeved kimonos covered in rhinestones. “I took about, I want to say, each side took me four hours to rhinestone,” she says.

Then she does the maths. “One side, times eight.”

The entire competition costumes took around two months of intense work to complete. Their preliminary costumes, which they had to create before even qualifying for the competition, took considerably longer. “That took us a year and a month to make those preliminary outfits to even go and compete first.”

Kalypso insists she loved making the World Cosplay Summit outfits.

“I really did enjoy making that outfit. I loved making that outfit. I look at it and I'm very happy with it.”

But there is also a particular kind of relationship cosplayers develop with a costume after spending hundreds of hours making it.

“We always say, like, a good WCS (World Cosplay Summit) outfit is an outfit that you feel so much joy at, but you can never wear again because it brings you so much trauma just to even look at it again.”

The rhinestones might have been eye-catching, but they were only part of the work.

Vin was dealing with detailed sewing and tailoring, including a close stitch pattern that took hours to complete. “I had to do a sand stitch, which is a really close stitch,” she explains. “It took such a really long time to go through all those lines, and it was a very detailed pattern, so it took a really long time.”

The two naturally divide their work according to their strengths. Vin is currently studying fashion and focuses heavily on sewing, tailoring and costume construction. Kalypso started with prop-making before realising that she particularly loved performance and being on stage.

Vin sums up their partnership simply. “We really build off each other a lot. We inspire each other.”

The pair travelled to Japan in late July 2025, with the competition taking place on August 3. It was also their first overseas trip.

“So, we said, why not make the most of it, right?” Kalypso says.

Before travelling, they had spent time studying previous World Cosplay Summit competitions and performances. They went back through the 2023 and 2024 editions, watching skits and analysing what worked.

“We could understand what would make them lose, what would make that person win, what details that they put into their costume that we may not have seen,” Kalypso says.

They took those lessons into their own performance. The competition required them to be good at more than one thing.

“You have to be a Jack-of-all-trades kind of competition,” Kalypso says. Costumes, performances, video and techniques all mattered.

And when they finally arrived in Japan, there was one thing they were particularly nervous about. “Vin was 18 at the time and I was 21 at the time, and we were the youngest competitors there,” Kalypso says. “That was really scary.”

But meeting the other cosplayers changed that feeling quickly.

“Actually getting to sit down and talk with the cosplayers there, it wasn't that scary. It wasn't that nerve-wracking either,” she says.

“At the end of the day, we all share the same hobby, so there's a mutual understanding.” Competitors were asking each other about costume details. Everyone understood the techniques and the work involved. “We all understand each other's skill points,” Kalypso says.

And then there was the cultural exchange. World Cosplay Summit contestants bring snacks, drinks and treats from their countries to share with one another.

Kalypso and Vin knew what they were bringing. Karak.

“We got to share karak with the other contestants,” Kalypso laughs.

Vin laughs remembering what they got in return.

“We got so much candy from around the world. We couldn't eat all of it, honestly. It was too much, but it was so nice getting to share cultures that way.”

For both of them, representing the UAE was particularly meaningful.

Kalypso moved to the UAE when she was five. Vin arrived even earlier. “I moved when I was five months old,” Vin says.

Their lives in cosplay have happened here. They have travelled across the Emirates for events, performed in Dubai and attended shows in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

So when the opportunity came to represent the UAE internationally, it didn't feel disconnected from their story. “We're in the UAE, we're going to be doing this, we're doing this together, we live here, and now we're going to go and represent the UAE as well,” Kalypso says.

For Kalypso, who has lived in the UAE since 2008, and Vin, who has spent almost her entire life here, standing on an international stage representing the country felt completely natural.

Both Kalypso and Vin have watched the UAE cosplay community change over the years. It has grown.

There are more events now. More conventions. More opportunities for cosplayers to meet and perform. “When I first started cosplaying, I believe Comic-Con and maybe one or two more events were, like, the only big ones in the region,” Vin says. “Thankfully now, we have lots of events happening almost every month, small or big or medium.”

For her, the growing number of conventions means one very simple thing.“Seeing our friends more often.”

Despite the growth, the community has managed to retain something that makes the UAE scene unique. Everyone knows everyone. “It's almost a very tight-knit community,” Kalypso says. “We all know each other. Everyone is each other's neighbour.”

Cosplayers ask each other where to find materials. They exchange techniques. They help each other figure out how someone created a particular piece. “We all talk to each other, we all adapt,” Vin says.

“As we said before, our cosplay community isn't as big as more established countries with more established communities. So we all help each other with, ‘How do we find these materials?’ or, ‘How have you done this technique?’ while still being within our local community.”

Kalypso has also noticed something happening every few years. A new wave of young cosplayers arrives.

“I always see this influx that happens maybe every three, four years where we see a bunch of very young cosplayers getting into the scene, and I love seeing them so much.”

She is talking about 11, 12 and 13-year-olds. “When we joined, we were 13. So we get to see all the new 13-year-olds join and it's like, ‘Oh my God.’”

The community might be growing, but there is still something almost familial about it. “Everyone is each other's neighbour.”

This year marks another full-circle moment. Kalypso and Vin are heading back to Comic-Con for their fifth year performing.

Kalypso has been performing there since 2020, while their group has performed at the event since 2022.

But this year, things are different. “For the first time, we're coming as professional cosplay guests and the judges for this year,” Kalypso says.

For two people who met at MEFCC in 2017, dressed as characters from the same game, before going years without speaking, it is quite a journey.

They met by accident.

Started performing together.

Started creating together.

Went together to one of the biggest cosplay competitions in the world.

Placed in the Top 10.

Represented the UAE.

Shared karak in Japan.

And now they are returning to the convention where it all started as judges.

Not bad for a chance meeting between Sans and Alphys.

And for anyone in the UAE who loves cosplay but is still too nervous to attend their first convention, they have some straightforward advice. “Grab your friends and do it,” Kalypso says.

Even if you don't have friends who are into cosplay, she says, take the plunge anyway. “The easiest thing about cosplay is that you will see people wearing your interest. So you can talk to them.”

Vin knows that first step can be intimidating, particularly when you're young. But her own journey started by gathering her friends and deciding they were all going to a convention together.

“I literally just grabbed my friends and I said, ‘We're all going to go up to this one con, PopCon, it was at the time.’”

They dressed up.

They went.

And that was it.

“It just started from there.” Her advice for convincing reluctant friends is slightly more direct. “You just need to force them.” Kalypso immediately joins in. “Force your friends or force your family.”

And just like that, you could also have your first cosplay group.