…And with that, 2023’s predictable but fairly entertaining Oscars are over and have left us wondering once again. The 95th Academy Awards weren’t without their highlights, surprises, and snubs. But, for the most part, the awards were a solid, sincere, and generous show. The event was perfectly curated and capped with many wins, including the big historic win for Ruth E. Carter. She made history again at the Oscars when she became the first Black woman to win her second Academy Award. This Women’s History Month, we celebrate the works of the talented costume designer.
– Ruth E. Carter
“I pulled myself up from my bootstraps,” Carter said after her win on Sunday night. “I started a single-parent household. I wanted to be a costume designer. I studied, I scraped, and I dealt with adversity in the industry that sometimes didn’t look like me. I endure”
At this year’s ceremony, the costume designer best known for her work on the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther was recognized for her achievement in the superhero film’s sequel. Carter, 62, took home the Oscar for best costume design for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” She had previously won an Oscar for best costume design for the first Black Panther movie in 2019. Then becoming the first Black person to win the costume design category. She won in a competitive field that also included Catherine Martin’s costumes for Baz Luhrmann’s biopic Elvis and Shirley Kurata’s costumes for the multiverse epic Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.
In her speech, Carter highlighted that she hopes that young costume designers can be inspired. “So I feel that this win opens the door for other young costume designers who may not think that this industry is for them, and hopefully they’ll see me and they’ll see my story, and they’ll think that they can win an Oscar too.” She said.
Ruth’s work on Black Panther has been acclaimed for its Afrofuturist take on superhero costumes, drawing from indigenous influences across the African continent and imbuing them with a technological bent to tell the tale of the fictional kingdom Wakanda, a world power that has remained hidden from the rest of the globe.
“The opportunity to infuse the different cultures around Africa was a huge honor, and I felt there were still people who had this backwards mindset that Africa is just one monolithic place, with people living in huts with flies on their faces.”
– Ruth E. Carter
Ruth E. Carter joins a small league of Black actors and creatives who have won multiple Academy Awards, including Denzel Washington – who became the first Black actor to win two Oscars in 2002. As well as Mahershala Ali, who has won twice for Moonlight and Green Book. In February 2021, the designer was honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. They presented her with the 2,694th star in the category of motion pictures. In addition, Carter was the second costume designer to receive her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Aside from “Black Panther,” Carter has worked on several iconic films, including “School Daze,” “Sparkle,” “Do The Right Thing,” “Coming Up Rose,” and more.
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