Ruth E. Carter

Ruth E. Carter is a two-time Academy Award-winning film costume designer. Best known for turning the Black Panther superhero into an African King, Carter made history as the first Black person to win the Costume Design category and earned Marvel Studios their first Oscar recognition. In the blockbuster, she paid tribute to the people of Africa fusing the traditional with the contemporary while incorporating technology to deliver fashion and function. She created Afrofuturistic pieces that empowered the female form, honored ancient cultures, and invoked a deep sense of representation unlike any other costumes experienced on screen. For "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," Carter made history again for her outstanding costume design work and became the first Black woman to win multiple Academy Awards in any category and the first costume designer to win for the first film and its sequel.

Over three decades in film, television, and theater, Carter has earned seventy credits and collaborated with prolific directors, including Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Ava DuVernay, and Ryan Coogler. Her costumes, based on real and imaginative characters, provide an arc to the narratives of African Americans from "Do the Right Thing," "Malcolm X," "What's Love Got to Do With It," "Amistad," "The Butler," "Marshall," "Selma," "Dolemite Is My Name" and "Coming to America" to "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." Her devotion to retraining the eye to see beauty through costume design and telling stories that enrich the humanity of the Black experience cements her legacy as a preeminent voice and expert on period genres and Afro aesthetics.

Carter's outstanding costume design work has been honored with Academy Award nominations for "Malcolm X" and "Amistad" as well as an Emmy nomination for the miniseries reboot of "Roots." The impact of her career in filmmaking has been recognized with the Costume Designers Guild's Career Achievement Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She is also a member of the Board of Governors for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Her costumes serve as an American treasure of history and culture and are on display in a traveling museum exhibition titled “Afrofuturism in Costume Design” and in her book “The Art of Ruth E. Carter” -- a behind-the-scenes journey in creating the most iconic costumes in filmmaking available May 2023.

Carter was presented with the key to the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, her hometown, in honor of her achievements and service to the community. She is a graduate of Hampton University in Virginia, and served as their commencement speaker and given the distinction of honorary doctorate. She holds an additional honorary doctorate from Suffolk University in Massachusetts.