Famed costume designer Ruth E. Carter just made history at this year’s Academy Awards.
The trailblazing creative earned her fifth Oscar nomination for best costume design for her work in Ryan Coogler’s supernatural horror film Sinners. The nomination has now made her the most-nominated Black woman in Oscar history, across any category.
“It’s … pride, gratitude, responsibility,” Carter told The Associated Press.
Within the costume design category, Carter was nominated alongside Deborah L. Scott (Avatar: Fire and Ash), Kate Hawley (Frankenstein), Malgosia Turzanska (Hamnet) and Miyako Belizzi (Marty Supreme).
The recent win makes Carter a five-time nominee, surpassing Oscar-winning actor Viola Davis. She is now tied with longtime collaborator Spike Lee and Morgan Freeman for the third-most nominations among Black creatives, behind the late Quincy Jones and Denzel Washington.
Carter’s work span 35 years and over 40 films. She was previously nominated for her work in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (1992), Steven Spielberg’s Amistad (1997), Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther (2019), and it’s sequel Wakanda Forever (2022).
“Our history is being erased as we speak.”
Since 1988, Carter’s film career has focused specifically on Black stories, such as “Do The Right Thing,” “Selma,” and “Malcolm X.” It is in these various films that Carter uses her craft of costume design to tell stories from the civil rights to superheros.
Her designs have been worn by Washington, Oprah Winfrey, Eddie Murphy, and Angela Bassett among others.
“My trajectory has been about telling the story of culture,” Carter said to the Associated Press. “Our history is being erased as we speak. So to have this responsibility of telling our stories — and being as authentic as I can — and being awarded for it, is a celebration.”
She told the outlet that for Sinners, she “approached costume design as an act of protection rather than embellishment, determined to safeguard the visual truth of Black working-class life, particularly sharecroppers and migrants of the early 20th century.”
This act of protection helped the film make Oscars history with 16 nods. Among the record number of nods were acting nominations for Michael B. Jordan, Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku.
Of the 3,100+ Oscar statuettes that have been awarded, only 20 are in the possession of Black women. That is approximately 0.006%
The 2026 Oscars are set to air live on ABC and Hulu on Sunday, March 15, starting at 4 pm. PT.