Ruth E. Carter
{{Short description|American costume designer}}
{{redirect|Ruth Carter|the evangelist|Ruth Carter Stapleton|the arts patron|Ruth Carter Stevenson}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ruth E. Carter
| image = Ruth E. Carter by Gage Skidmore.jpg
| alt =
| caption = Carter in March 2018
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1960|4|10}}
| birth_place = Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.
| alma_mater = Hampton University (BA){{Cite web|title=Hampton University Alumna, Ruth E. Carter, to Receive Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Feb. 25 |url=http://news.hamptonu.edu/release/Hampton-University-Alumna,-Ruth-E%5E-Carter,-to-Receive-Star-on-the-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame-Feb%5E-25|access-date=2021-03-13|agency=Hampton University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224161004/http://news.hamptonu.edu/release/Hampton-University-Alumna%2C-Ruth-E%5E-Carter%2C-to-Receive-Star-on-the-Hollywood-Walk-of-Fame-Feb%5E-25|archive-date=2021-02-24|url-status=live}}
| occupation = Costume designer
| years_active = 1982–present
}}
Ruth E. Carter (born April 10, 1960) is an American costume designer for film and television.{{cite news |last1=James |first1=Kendra |url=http://www.lennyletter.com/culture/a624/radical-fashion/ |title=Radical Fashion: An interview with the costume designer Ruth Carter |work=Lenny Letter |date=November 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206032025/http://www.lennyletter.com/culture/a624/radical-fashion/ |archive-date=December 6, 2016 |url-status=live}} She is best known for her collaborations with Spike Lee, John Singleton, and Ryan Coogler. During her film career, Carter has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, for her work on Lee's biographical film Malcolm X (1992), Steven Spielberg's historical drama film Amistad (1997), and winning twice for Coogler's Marvel superhero films Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).{{cite web |last=Bradley |first=Laura |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/02/black-panther-costumes-designer-ruth-carter-interview |title=The Secrets Behind Black Panther's Spellbinding Fashion |work=Vanity Fair |date=2018-02-16 |access-date=2019-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215062817/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/02/black-panther-costumes-designer-ruth-carter-interview |archive-date=2019-12-15 |url-status=live}} She was the first African-American to win and be nominated for Best Costume Design and the first Black woman to win multiple Academy Awards in any category.{{Cite magazine |last=Coggan |first=Devan |url=https://ew.com/oscars/2019/02/24/ruth-e-carter-best-costume-design-oscars/ |title=Ruth E. Carter makes Oscar history as first black woman to win Best Costume Design |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=February 24, 2019 |access-date=2019-02-25}}{{cite news |last=Tangcay |first=Jazz |url=https://variety.com/2023/artisans/news/ruth-carter-oscars-record-black-woman-winners-1235545868/ |title=Ruth E. Carter Becomes First Black Woman to Win Two Oscars |work=Variety |date=March 12, 2023 |access-date=March 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313013849/https://variety.com/2023/artisans/news/ruth-carter-oscars-record-black-woman-winners-1235545868/ |archive-date=March 13, 2023 |url-status=live}} Her other film credits include Do the Right Thing (1989), What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Love & Basketball (2000), Serenity (2005), The Butler (2013), Selma (2014), Marshall (2017), Dolemite Is My Name (2019), and Coming 2 America (2021).
Early life and education
Carter was born on April 10, 1960, in Springfield, Massachusetts, in a single-parent household. Her mother is Mabel Carter,{{Cite news |last=Landrum Jr. |first=Jonathan |url=https://www.kktv.com/2023/03/13/ruth-e-carter-becomes-1st-black-woman-win-2-oscars/ |title=Ruth E. Carter becomes 1st Black woman to win 2 Oscars |agency=Associated Press |publisher=KKTV |date=March 13, 2023 |access-date=March 13, 2023}} and she was the youngest of eight children. At nine years old, she began attending the Boys & Girls Club. Using her mother's sewing machine, Carter learned from the organization how to read and design simplicity patterns.{{Cite web|last=Herman|first=Vallie|url=https://costumedesignersguild.com/articles-videos/articles-archive/spotlight-on-ruth-carter/|title=Spotlight On: Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter|date=June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921045249/http://costumedesignersguild.com/articles-videos/articles-archive/spotlight-on-ruth-carter/|agency=Costume Designers Guild|archive-date=2015-09-21|access-date=2021-03-13|language=en-US|url-status=live}} She graduated in 1978 from Technical High School, Springfield, Ma. In 1982, Carter graduated from Hampton Institute, later renamed Hampton University, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts.
Career
After graduating, Carter returned to her hometown, working as an intern for City Stage's costume department and then the Santa Fe Opera. In 1986, she moved to Los Angeles to work at the city's Theater Center.{{cite web |last=Platanitis |first=Sarah |url=http://www.masslive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/02/costume_designer_ruth_carter_t.html |title=Hollywood costume designer Ruth Carter talks about her roots in Springfield and Oscar nods |work=The Republican |date=February 22, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220160040/https://www.masslive.com/entertainment/2015/02/costume_designer_ruth_carter_t.html |archive-date=December 20, 2019 |url-status=live}} While working there, Carter met director Spike Lee, who hired her for his second film, School Daze (1988). She continued working on his subsequent films, including Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), and Malcolm X (1992).{{cite book |last=Landis |first=Deborah Nadoolman |chapter=Ruth Carter |title=Costume Design |publisher=Focal Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-240-80590-0 |pages=37–45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=86Ihna8-sLkC}}{{cite book |last=Kirkham |first=Pat |chapter='Three Strikes Against Me': African American Costume Designers |title=Women Designers in the USA, 1900–2000: Diversity and Difference |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-300-09331-5 |pages=142–143 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nxzw0wdIREC}}
Aside from her work with Spike Lee, Carter also designed costumes for Steven Spielberg's Amistad (1997) and several of John Singleton's films, such as Rosewood (1997) and Baby Boy (2001). She further designed costumes for the American television drama series Being Mary Jane on BET Networks, created by Mara Brock Akil and starring Gabrielle Union.{{cite web|title=BET Networks Announces New Programming at Annual Upfront Presentation|url=http://thefutoncritic.com/news/2013/04/02/bet-networks-announces-new-programming-at-annual-upfront-presentation-267011/20130402bet01/|website=The Futon Critic|access-date=April 20, 2013|date=April 2, 2013}}
Carter worked on the superhero film Black Panther (2018), directed by Ryan Coogler. Deriving from Afrofuturism, her costumes were inspired by many traditional African garments, including those of the Maasai and Ndebele people.{{Cite web|last=Long|first=Kelle|url=https://www.mpaa.org/2018/05/the-black-panther-costume-designer-explains-the-symbolism-of-her-work/|title=Black Panther Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter Explains the Symbolism of Her Work|agency=Motion Picture Association of America|access-date=2019-05-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514143408/https://www.mpaa.org/2018/05/the-black-panther-costume-designer-explains-the-symbolism-of-her-work/|archive-date=2019-05-14|url-status=live}} She traveled to southern Africa to draw aesthetic inspirations and received permission to incorporate traditional Lesotho designs into the film's costumes.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thefader.com/2018/02/06/black-panther-costume-designer-interview-ruth-e-carter|title=Clarks brought out Black Panther's costume designer to celebrate their new sneaker collab|work=The Fader|access-date=2018-03-03|language=en}} At the 91st Academy Awards, she won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, making her the first Black woman to win the Academy Award in the category.{{Cite news|last=Wilson|first=Julee|url=https://www.essence.com/fashion/ruth-e-carter-first-black-woman-oscar-costume-design/|title=Ruth E. Carter Becomes The First Black Woman To Win Oscar For Best Costume Design|date=February 24, 2019|website=Essence|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225091708/https://www.essence.com/fashion/ruth-e-carter-first-black-woman-oscar-costume-design/|archive-date=February 25, 2019|url-status=live}}
Carter won 2 Oscars for Costume Design for Black Panther and Wakanda Forever, making history as the first African-American in that category. She also made history being the first African-American woman to win multiple Oscars in any category. A 4-time Academy Award nominee also for Malcolm X and Amistad, she has 50 feature film credits including Do the Right Thing, The Butler, Selma, and Marshall and received the 2019 Costume Designers Guild Career Achievement Award.{{Cite web |title=Ruth E. Carter - Biography |url=https://m.imdb.com/name/nm0141921/bio/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}
In 2021, Carter received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the film category.{{cite news |last=Tangcay |first=Jazz |url=https://variety.com/2021/artisans/awards/ruth-carter-walk-of-fame-1234913760/|title=Ruth E. Carter Makes History With a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame |work=Variety |date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224191110/https://variety.com/2021/artisans/awards/ruth-carter-walk-of-fame-1234913760/ |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |url-status=live}}
In 2023, Carter won her second Academy Award for Best Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). During her acceptance speech, Carter dedicated her win to her mother, who had died during the prior week at the age of 101. Also in 2023, the North Carolina Museum of Art hosted an exhibit displaying more than sixty of Carter's original garments.{{cite web |url=https://ncartmuseum.org/series/ruth-e-carter-afrofuturism-in-costume-design/ |title=Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design |date=February 6, 2023 |agency=North Carolina Museum of Art |access-date=March 14, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230314005239/https://ncartmuseum.org/series/ruth-e-carter-afrofuturism-in-costume-design/ |archive-date=March 14, 2023 |url-status=live}}
Filmography
=== Film ===
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Director |
|---|
| rowspan="2"| 1988 |
| I'm Gonna Git You Sucka |
| 1989
| rowspan="2"| Spike Lee |
| 1990 |
| rowspan="3"| 1991 |
| Jungle Fever
| Spike Lee |
| The Five Heartbeats |
| 1992
| Spike Lee |
| 1993 |
| 1993 |
| rowspan="3"| 1994
| Cobb |
| Crooklyn
| Spike Lee |
| Surviving the Game |
| rowspan="2"| 1995 |
| Clockers
| Spike Lee |
| 1996 |
| rowspan="3"| 1997
| B*A*P*S | Robert Townsend |
| Rosewood |
| Amistad |
| 1999
| Spike Lee |
| rowspan="4"| 2000
| Carlos Ávila |
| Love & Basketball |
| Shaft
| John Singleton |
| Bamboozled
| Spike Lee |
| rowspan="2"| 2001
| Baby Boy | John Singleton |
| Dr. Dolittle 2 |
| 2002
| I Spy |
| 2003
| Steve Carr |
| 2004 |
| rowspan="2"| 2005
| Serenity |
| Four Brothers
| John Singleton |
| rowspan="2"| 2009
| Spread |
| Black Dynamite |
| rowspan="3"| 2013 |
| Oldboy
| Spike Lee |
| The Butler |
| rowspan="3"| 2014 |
| Selma |
| Da Sweet Blood of Jesus
| rowspan="2"| Spike Lee |
| 2015
| Chi-Raq |
| 2016 |
| rowspan="2"| 2017
| Kidnap |
| Marshall
| Reginald Hudlin |
| 2018 |
| rowspan="2"| 2019 |
| Dolemite Is My Name
| rowspan="2"| Craig Brewer |
| 2021 |
| 2022
|Black Panther: Wakanda Forever | rowspan="2"| Ryan Coogler |
| 2025 |
= Television =
- Being Mary Jane (2013–2019)
- Roots (2016){{Cite web|last=Blauvelt|first=Christian|date=2020-08-28|title=Ruth E. Carter Preserves Black History Through Fashion|url=https://www.indiewire.com/influencers/dolemite-is-my-name-costume-designer-ruth-e-carter/|access-date=2021-03-13|website=IndieWire|language=en}}
Awards and nominations
- 2002: American Black Film Festival, Career Achievement Award[https://books.google.com/books?id=MbYDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22ruth+e.+carter%22&pg=PA59 "Actor Mekhi Pfifer and Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter Honored at American Black Film Festival"], Jet, July 22, 2002.
- 2015: Essence, 2015 Black Women in Hollywood Award at the 8th Annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon{{Cite web|title=ESSENCE Black Women in Hollywood|url=https://www.essence.com/awards-events/red-carpet/black-women-hollywood/essence-black-women-hollywood/|access-date=2021-06-04|website=Essence|language=en-US}}
- 2019: Costume Designers Guild, Career Achievement Award
- 2019: Suffolk University, Honorary Degree - Doctor of Humane Letters
- 2020: SDFCS Awards, Best Costume Design, Dolemite Is My Name
- 2020: Satellite Awards, Best Costume Design, Dolemite Is My Name
- 2023: FashFilmFete, Costume Design Career Achievement Award in Film{{Cite web |last=Mack |first=Grace |title=FashFilmFete festival to celebrate iconic costume designers, fashion in film |url=https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/arts/fashfilmfete-to-celebrate-iconic-designers-fashion-at-phoenix-film-festival-17120560 |access-date=2023-10-21 |website=Phoenix New Times |language=en}}
Bibliography
- {{Cite book |title=The Art of Ruth E. Carter |publisher=Chronicle Books |year=2023 |isbn=978-1797203065 |language=English}} {{Cite web |last= |date=2023-05-24 |title=Why Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter feels great about the state of Hollywood |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2023-05-24/oscar-winner-ruth-e-carter-costume-design-book |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last= |title=Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter Gives Glimpses at Her Legendary Career in Debut Book (Exclusive) |url=https://people.com/costume-designer-ruth-e-carter-releases-debut-book-7501249 |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Peoplemag |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite book|last1=Kirkham|first1=Pat|last2=Stallworth|first2=Shauna|title=Women Designers in the USA, 1900-2000: Diversity and Difference|date=2000|publisher=Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts|location=New York|isbn=978-0-300-09331-5|pages=141–143, 258|chapter=Chapter 4: "Three Strikes Against Me": African American Women Designers|oclc=48628173}}
- {{cite book|last1=Landis|first1=Deborah Nadoolman|title=Screencraft. Costume Design|date=2003|publisher=Focal Press|location=Burlington, MA|isbn=978-0-240-80590-0|oclc=718593913}}
External links
- {{IMDb name |0141921}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for Ruth E. Carter
|list =
{{Academy Award Best Costume Design}}
{{Black Reel Award for Outstanding Costume Design}}
{{Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Contemporary Film}}
{{Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Fantasy Film}}
{{Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Costume Design}}
{{Satellite Award Best Costume Design}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Ruth E.}}
Category:African-American designers
Category:American costume designers
Category:Artists from Springfield, Massachusetts
Category:Best Costume Design Academy Award winners
Category:Hampton University alumni
Category:American women costume designers
Category:21st-century American artists
Category:21st-century American women artists
Category:21st-century African-American artists
Category:20th-century American artists