Costume designer Ruth E. Carter has won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Her victory at the 95th Academy Awards makes her the first Black woman to win multiple Oscars in any category.
Carter made history with her groundbreaking work on the Marvel sequel film, which brought audiences back to the nation of Wakanda following the death of the Black Panther, T'Challa. Costume design is clearly a significant part of any superhero IP, so Carter's win is a testiment to the power of her creations. The 62-year-old Massachusetts native beat out Mary Zophres for Babylon, Jenny Beaven for Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, and Shirley Kurata for Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Catherine Martin for Elvis. Martin was considered by most to be the favorite after winning the BAFTA and Costume Designers Guild awards for her work on the musical biopic.
Carter is no stranger to the makings of Wakanda, as her previous Oscar win came in 2019 for the first Black Panther, which also makes her the first person to win the costume design Academy Award for both an original film and its sequel. At the time of Black Panther's release, Carter told Collider during a panel about her process for designing costumes, saying, "You are the standard. What you are going to bring to [the film], if it comes from the heart, everybody will feel it." She is not done with her Marvel stints, either, as the now-double Academy Award winner has also joined the upcoming Blade reboot film, allowing her to play in an entirely different swath of the MCU.
While she has now won two Oscars, these were not Carter's only nominations. The costumer designer has garnered two other nods for her work on 1992's Malcolm X and 1997's Amistad. She is known for her significant collaborations with director Spike Lee, working with him on the aforementioned Malcolm X, as well as his films School Daze, Jungle Fever, Summer of Sam, Chi-Raq, and more.
Carter is the latest Black person to make waves at the Academy Awards, but she is not the first. Denzel Washington won his second Oscar in 2002 for his starring role in the thriller Training Day, and previously won the golden statue in 1990 for Glory. Washington and Mahershala Ali are the only Black actors who have won two Oscars, with the latter taking home accolades for Moonlight and Green Book. Including those outside of a cast list, just five total Black people have garnered multiple Oscar wins in any category: Carter, Washington, Ali, audio engineer Willie D. Burton, and producer Russell Williams II.
Carter's speech, which she dedicated to her recently deceased 101-year-old mother, can be seen below: