Costume designer Ruth E Carter becomes first black woman to win two Oscars

The American designer won for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Ruth E Carter, winner of the Best Costume Design award for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Getty Images

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever costume designer Ruth E Carter has become the first black woman to win two Oscars.

The designer, who won for Black Panther in 2019 and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever this year, dedicated her Oscar win to her late mother, Mabel Carter, and the film's late star, Chadwick Boseman.

In 2019, she became the first black person to win an Academy Award in the costume design category. She has been nominated a total of four times, first in 1993 for Malcolm X and in 1998 for Amistad.

This year, Carter, 62, beat Jenny Beavan, who has won several Oscars and was nominated this year for Mrs Harris Goes To Paris, Catherine Martin for Baz Luhrmann's biopic Elvis, Shirley Kurata for Everything Everywhere All at Once and Mary Zophres for Babylon.

Accepting her award, Carter said: "Thank you to the academy for recognising the super hero that is a black woman, she endures, she loves, she overcomes, she is every woman in this film. She is my mother.

"This past week Mabel became an ancestor. This film prepared me for this moment, Chadwick [Boseman] please take care of mum."

Angela Bassett in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022). Photo: Marvel Studios

Boseman, who played King T'Challa in the original 2018 film Black Panther, died in 2020 from colon cancer at the age of 43.

Of her creative team, Carter said: "Together we are reshaping how culture is represented.

"I share this with many dedicated artists whose hands and hearts helped manifest the costumes of Wakanda. This is for my mother, she was 101."

Carter was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, and studied costume design at Hampton University. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she met director Spike Lee.

The prolific costume designer has worked in the industry for more than three decades, creating costumes for more than 40 films, ranging from period pieces — including Ava DuVernay's film Selma — to futurist designs in superhero movie Black Panther.

See all of the winners at the 2023 Oscars — in pictures

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  The cast and crew after winning the Oscar for Best Picture for 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'. EPA

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  From left, Holden Fletcher Fraser, Leland Francis Fraser, Brendan Fraser and Jeanne Moore. AP

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  Michelle Yeoh accepts the award for Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once. AP

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  Janet Yeoh, Michelle Yeoh's mother, celebrates after her daughter won in the best actress category during the 95th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, as seen in a live view event at a cinema in Kuala Lumpur. AP

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  Ruth Carter won in the Best Costume Design category for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. EPA

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  M M Keeravaani, left, and Chandrabose, winners of the award for Best Music (Original Song) for Naatu Naatu from RRR. AP

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  Ke Huy Quan, centre, winner of the award for Best Supporting Actor for Everything Everywhere All At Once with Troy Kotsur, left, and Ariana DeBose. AP

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  Sarah Polley wins the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Women Talking. Reuters

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  Kartiki Gonsalves, left, and Guneet Monga, winners of the Best Documentary Short Film award for The Elephant Whisperers. EPA

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  Jamie Lee Curtis won the award for Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once. AP

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  From left, Guillermo del Toro, Alexander Bulkley, Gary Ungar, and Mark Gustafson, winners of the Best Animated Feature for Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. EPA

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  From left, Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett, winners of the award for Best Visual Effects for Avatar: The Way of Water. AP

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  Ernestine Hipper, left, and Christian M Goldbeck, winners of the award for Best Production Design for All Quiet on the Western Front. AP

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  From left, Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris, winners of the award for Best Documentary Feature film for Navalny. AP

— Additional reporting from PA News