Ruth E. Carter made history as the first African American to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, earning the honor for her extraordinary work on Black Panther. In a conversation at her Los Angeles studio, surrounded by sketches, fabric swatches, and mannequins draped in works-in-progress, Carter discusses a career that has spanned over 40 films and fundamentally changed how Hollywood approaches costume design.
Where Design Begins
“Every costume starts with a conversation,” Carter explains. “I need to understand who this person is. Not just their occupation or their social status, but their inner life. What do they want? What are they afraid of? How do they want the world to see them, and how do they actually see themselves? The gap between those two things is where the most interesting costume choices live.”
This character-first approach has produced some of cinema’s most memorable visual identities. From the Afrofuturist designs of Wakanda to the period-perfect costumes of Malcolm X, Carter’s work consistently demonstrates that clothing is never merely decorative but always expressive.
Research and Inspiration
Carter is a tireless researcher. For each project, she immerses herself in the historical period, cultural context, and specific world of the story. “I visit museums, I read diaries, I study photographs. But I also walk through neighborhoods, watch people on the street, visit markets and shops. Fashion is a living thing, and you cannot understand it from books alone.”
She speaks with particular enthusiasm about her process for creating the costumes of Black Panther, which required blending African textile traditions, futuristic technology, and contemporary fashion into a cohesive visual language. “I wanted Wakanda to feel real. Not like a costume designer’s fantasy of Africa, but like a place with its own living, evolving fashion culture.”
Mentoring the Next Generation
“The most important thing I do now is mentor young designers,” Carter says. “This industry needs more diverse voices behind the camera, in every department. When a young Black designer sees my Oscar, I want them to know that this path is open to them.”
