Ruth E. Carter
Academy Award-Winning Costume Designer; Best Known for Her Work on "Selma" & Marvel's "Black Panther"
Ruth E. Carter is the 2019 Academy Award winner for Achievement in Costume Design for Marvel’s “BLACK PANTHER”.
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Full Bio
Ruth E. Carter is the 2019 Academy Award winner for Achievement in Costume Design for Marvel’s “BLACK PANTHER” making history as the first African-American to win in the category. Carter wows audiences and dazzles critics alike with costumes inspired by traditional African tribal wear merged with a contemporary look delivering fashion and function, incorporating technology, and creating such authenticity, ownership, and empowerment for the characters and viewers; cementing her as one of the preeminent voices and experts on Afro aesthetics.
A career spanning more than three decades in theater, cinema, and television, Carter’s depth of artistry flowing together with her creative instincts, passion for culture and history, empathy for people, enormous capacity for research, eye for detail, and ability to deliver the director’s vision while infusing her art makes her one of the most sought after and renowned costume designers in the world; earning her over forty film credits including two additional Academy Award nominations for “MALCOLM X” (1993) and “AMISTAD” (1998) and an Emmy nomination for the reboot of television mini-series “ROOTS” (2016).
Carter has collaborated with a myriad of directors and visionaries starting with Spike Lee in “SCHOOL DAZE,” and working with him on 14 films including “DO THE RIGHT THING”, which is archived in the Library of Congress, “MALCOLM X, “MO BETTER BLUES,” and “OLD BOY.” She joined forces with Robert Townsend making the iconic “FIVE HEARTBEATS,” with Keenan Ivory Wayans in “I’M GONNA GET YOU SUCKA,” and gritty “BABY BOY” and “ROSEWOOD” with the late John Singleton. Carter also created the costumes and look for the pilot episode of Larry David’s “Seinfeld.”
Her breath of knowledge in African-American history and art was sought after by Steven Spielberg and Debbie Allen and for the incredible “AMISTAD.” Carter continued to present outstanding work for period ensemble films in Lee Daniels’ “THE BUTLER,” Ava Duvernay’s “SELMA” and Reginald Hudlin’s “MARSHALL.” Carter recently completed work on the first season of “YELLOWSTONE,” a television series starring Kevin Costner and directed by Taylor Sheridan.
Carter’s brilliant bold 1970s urban dandy costume design work was recently seen in the Netflix film, “DOLEMITE IS MY NAME” starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Craig Brewer for which Carter won the 2020 Critics’ Choice Award for Best Costume. She can also be seen in Netflix’s Original Documentary “ABSTRACT” Season 2.
Her work is also featured in “COMING 2 AMERICA,” starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Craig Brewer, which premiered on Amazon on March 5th, 2021.
Carter is the first Costume Designer to cross over into fashion with a Conscious Collection collaboration with H&M featuring Carter’s 90’s street inspired look from early films. Carter’s costumes tell stories so intriguing and memorable they influence music, fashion, culture, and film-making and help us to understand ourselves better.
Testimonials
Ernie was perfect for our Elders Conference at Little River Casino Resort in Manistee, Michigan. We will definitely be using PDA again!
LITTLE RIVER BAND OF OTTAWA INDIANS
Our speaker was great and the crowd enjoyed her! She was very engaging. Thank you again PDA for the great list of suggestions!
MEDTRONIC
Everything went great! and our speaker was wonderful! Thank you so much for all your help PDA! Looking forward to the next one.
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – KANSAS CITY
I hope that this message finds you well. We had a phenomenal time with Atsuko this past Thursday. We wanted to just let you know how amazing she was. All those that were in attendance thoroughly enjoyed her and had nothing but amazing things to say about her. Thank you for working with us to make sure this happened!
BAYLOR UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
We had a fantastic day with Inge! She was very engaging with all those that attended. Her personal stories about the holocaust were very special and we were moved that she was willing to share them with everyone. Thank you again, PDA for all your hard work and dedication to make this program such a success!
SALT LAKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Dear PDA Group, Thank you so much for your hard work in scheduling our speaker! From the moment we reached out to you the first time, you worked with us on all details and logistics and kept us up-to-date on the progress. Thank you for all your hard work on making our event such a success! We couldn't have done it without you and your team!
SAP COMPANY
Thank you again, Dr. Kimbrough, for a great presentation, our attendees are still talking about it!
CAMPUS LABS
Dr. Henry Lee's presentation was entertaining, insightful and wise. I, and everyone at Pfizer, especially appreciate the remarks you directed about following your passion and preparing yourself to excel. Thank you, everyone, at PDA for helping to make this happen!
PFIZER
The event was successful! I received many messages expressing how awesome, outstanding and inspiring Ms. Webb-Christburg's speech was."
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MEMORIAL BREAKFAST, BOSTON, MLK SPEAKER
Everything went well. Atsuko was very easy to work with and the students enjoyed her performance! Thank you again for your recommendation and I hope to work with you again in the future!
CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Dr. Novello left this morning after a very successful event on our campus! Thank you PDA Group for your help from the first phone to the last you were with us every step of the way.
GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY
Jordan Carlos was very very entertaining! A majority of students who answered the event survey indicated they really enjoyed Jordan and definitely will bring him back!
WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY
On behalf of myself and my organization Entertainment Unlimited the Campus Programming Board of Ferris State University, we thank you PDA and Dan for a successful event!! Dan was magnificent! Students really enjoyed the presentation. I know I did. Can't wait to bring in more programs with PDA Group.
FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY
It was a great pleasure to work with PDA Group! The communication was always prompt, friendly and helpful. We loved the speakers and events we booked through Mr. Peter Walker (PDA Group).
WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY
Thank you, Peter, for all your help, you'll be happy to know that the event went incredibly well! Aneesa Ferreira was by far one of the best speakers we've ever had!
FURMAN UNIVERSITY
Topics
An Evening With Ruth E. Carter
Videos
Black Panther's Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter Breaks Down Her Iconic Costumes | Vanity Fair
Black Panther's Ruth E. Carter on Designing the Women of Wakanda (Exclusive)
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