At this year’s Academy Awards, costume designer Ruth E. Carter became the first African American woman to win multiple Oscars in any category – winning her first for the 2018 Marvel blockbuster, Black Panther, and this time for the 2022 long-awaited sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

The powerhouse designer has over 50 films on her credits, including: Do the Right Thing (1989), The Butler (2013), Selma (2014) and Marshall (2017), as well as the 2016 TV limited series, Roots. She was also nominated for two more Academy Awards: Malcolm X (1992) and Amistad (1997), and she received the 2019 Costume Designers Guild Career Achievement Award.

Talking to HFPA member Margaret Gardiner, Carter took a break from her current work on costumes for the 2024 reboot of the drama Blade – starring Mahershala Ali – to share her story. She talks about how she got into costume design, her career-changing relationships with filmmakers including Spike Lee, Denzel Washington and Eddie Murphy, her work on the Black Panther franchise and special relationship with Chadwick Boseman, and the weight and joy of representing so many young girls with a dream.