Cosplay is typically viewed as merely a hobby, one that can require a hefty investment of time and money. But cosplay can also turn profitable, and even evolve into a full time career. Such is the story of Nancy Wong (known in the cosplay world as PegasusMaiden), a cosplayer who became a fashion designer.

In addition to multiple fashion lines, Nancy has more than 50 different cosplay costumes under her belt, and specializes in underwater cosplay. Alltern8.com recently had an opportunity to do an exclusive interview with her, to talk about the transition from cosplay to fashion, as well as that whole underwater cosplay business!

Alltern8.com: Nancy, How did you get involved in cosplay? How old were you at the time?

Nancy Wong: I found out about cosplay when I was introduced to Fanime by friends Esther, Jen, and Monica. They are friends I met at UCDavis Craft Center. At first I was only planning to go in normal attire, but they convinced me to go in costume. I didn't know too many animes then, so my first cosplays were all original designs. At that time I was nineteen.

Alltern8.com: You have an impressive gallery on Cosplay.com. How many cosplay costumes do you have? How many do you usually create a year?

NW: I currently own 64 cosplays, a majority of these cosplays are original designs inspired by anime or manga characters, but not an exact replication. I create about 6-12 per year. My number of cosplays per [year] dropped when I started working full-time. Life was much easier in college when many of life essentials were taken care of for you.