Maral Agnerian

2025 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient

Cosplay legend Maral Agnerian, known as “Sarcasm-himé” in the cosplay community, has a career spanning longer than some con attendees have been alive. She has been costuming since 1999 and competes at the Master level. Her work has been widely recognized in costuming communities world-wide. She has won numerous awards at local, national, and international competitions, including her most recent triumph as the winner of the U.S. National Crown Championships of Cosplay.

Maral has a deep and abiding love for beautiful fabrics, beads, and all manner of shiny things. She relishes the challenge of bringing a 2-D design to life, but also loves the creativity inherent in original designs. She is always looking for, and sometimes creating, new sewing and construction techniques to learn and experiment with. In addition to her stunning craftsmanship, her creative presentations of her work onstage help bring her characters to life.

Maral also strongly believes in spreading knowledge and information throughout the community. She is in high demand as a teacher, and regularly offers courses and workshops at conventions and other venues. She also authors articles and presents webinars highlighting her work and the techniques she has developed.

In addition to teaching and presenting, Maral has served the costuming community for many years by running conventions, serving as a masquerade director, and judging costume competitions in North America, such as at Costume-Con and Anime North, and internationally. In October 2024, she was invited to serve as a judge for masquerades, the Variety Show, and the World Cosplay Summit qualifiers at Comic Con London.

Maral Agnerian’s decades-long participation in the costuming community, her widely recognized costuming skills, her willingness to share what she knows, and her many and continuing services to the community make her outstandingly qualified to receive the 2025 ICG Lifetime Achievement Award.