Ruth E. Carter (born April 10, 1960) is an American costume designer for film and television. She is best known for her collaborations with Spike Lee, John Singleton, and Ryan Coogler. During her film career, Carter has been nominated 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 won twice for Coogler's Marvel superhero films Black Panther (2018) and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022); becoming the first African-American to win and be nominated for Best Costume Design. She was nominated for a fifth time for her work in Coogler's Sinners (2025), breaking the record for most-nominated Black woman in Oscar history. 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). She also received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Period Costumes for a Limited Series for her work on the 2016 miniseries Roots. Carter is the recipient of the Career Achievement Award from the Costume Designers Guild Awards, in addition to receiving two competitive awards from the organisation. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ruth E. Carter, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 2028Black Panther 3 — Costume Design
• 2027Snoop — Costume Design
• 2027The Thomas Crown Affair — Costume Design
• 2025Sinners — Costume Design
• 2025The Pickup — Costume Design
• 2022Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Costume Design
• 2021Coming 2 America — Costume Design
• 2019Above Suspicion — Costume Design
• 2019Dolemite Is My Name — Costume Designer
• 2018Black Panther — Costume Design
• 2017Kidnap — Costume Designer
• 2017Marshall — Costume Design
• 2016Keeping Up with the Joneses — Costume Design
• Roots — Costume Design
• 2015Chi-Raq — Costume Design
• 2015Da Sweet Blood of Jesus — Costume Design
• Cosmos — Costume Designer
• 2014Selma — Costume Design
• 2014The Best of Me — Costume Design
• 2013Oldboy — Costume Design
• 2013Teen Beach Movie — Costume Design
• 2013The Butler — Costume Design
• 2012Sparkle — Costume Design
• 2011Abduction — Costume Designer
• 2010Frankie & Alice — Costume Design
• 2009Black Dynamite — Costume Design
• 2009Bring It On: Fight to the Finish — Costume Designer
• 2009Imagine That — Costume Design
• 2009Spread — Costume Design
• 2008Meet Dave — Costume Design
• Thief — Costume Design
• 2005Four Brothers — Costume Design
• 2005Serenity — Costume Design
• 2004Against the Ropes — Costume Designer
• 2003Daddy Day Care — Costume Design
• 2002I Spy — Costume Design
• 2001Baby Boy — Costume Design
• 2001Dr. Dolittle 2 — Costume Design
• 2000Bamboozled — Costume Design
• 2000Love & Basketball — Costume Design
• 2000Shaft — Costume Design
• 1999Summer of Sam — Costume Design
• 1998How Stella Got Her Groove Back — Costume Design
• 1997Amistad — Costume Design
• 1997B.A.P.S — Costume Design
• 1997Rosewood — Costume Design
• 1996The Great White Hype — Costume Design
• 1995Clockers — Costume Design
• 1995Money Train — Costume Design
• 1994Cobb — Costume Designer
• 1994Crooklyn — Costume Design
• 1994Surviving the Game — Costume Design
• 1993The Meteor Man — Costume Design
• 1993What's Love Got to Do with It — Costume Design
• 1992Malcolm X — Costume Design
• 1991House Party 2 — Costume Designer
• 1991Jungle Fever — Costume Design
• 1991The Five Heartbeats — Costume Design
• 1990Mo' Better Blues — Costume Design
• 1990Spike & Co. Do It a-Cappella — Costume Designer
• 1989Do the Right Thing — Costume Design
• Seinfeld — Costume Design
• 1988I'm Gonna Git You Sucka — Costume Design
• 1988School Daze — Costume Designer

Appearances as themselves (10)

• 2023Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — Self
• 202220/20 Presents Black Panther: In Search of Wakanda — Self
• The Tamron Hall Show — Self - Guest
• Black Hollywood: 'They've Gotta Have Us' — Self
• Abstract: The Art of Design — Self
• To Tell the Truth — Self - Costume Designer for Black Panther
• 2008Edith Head: Dressing the Master's Movies — Self
• 2005By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X' — Self
• The View — Self
• The Oscars — Self