Anja Rabes, born in Munich, trained at the Bavarian State Opera and studied theatre studies at LMU Munich. She worked as a costume assistant for Anna Viebrock, Axel Manthey, and Johannes Grützke. As a freelance costume designer, she has collaborated with directors such as Jossi Wieler, Stephan Kimmig, Christoph Marthaler, Andrea Moses and Calixto Bieito in cities including Munich, Salzburg, Hamburg, Berlin, Oslo, Amsterdam, Zurich, and Vienna. As a set designer, she created the stage for Jossi Wieler’s production of Paul Claudel’s “Mittagswende” at the Münchner Kammerspiele, which was invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen. She designed sets and costumes for the world premiere of Elfriede Jelinek’s “Rechnitz (Der Würgeengel)”, which won the Nestroy Prize in 2009. The production “Angabe der Person”, with her stage and costume designs, was awarded the Nestroy Prize in 2023 for Best German-Language Performance.She currently teaches at the Folkwang Universität der Künste Essen and has been a guest lecturer in Karlsruhe and Hamburg.