(energetic upbeat music) - [Soledad] She's been recognized with a Critics' Choice Award and by the NAACP.

Ruth Carter is a legend in costume design.

- I think that when you have a love for creating, you do it, whatever, wherever, however it takes.

- [Soledad] She can turn a vintage store into a magical workstation.

- So I put some jackets out here.

- Oh, great.

Okay, okay.

- I want to work with this.

- [Soledad] Her work has sparked our imagination with its attention to detail.

She dresses every person you see on screen, and her style reflected on the red carpet too.

- It's so incredibly inspiring to see the kids' reactions.

They get to see their history.

- Her designs stand out.

She calls them Afrofuturist.

They're regal and unapologetically Black.

And on Oscar night, they also made history.

You were the first Black costume designer to win an Academy Award and then do it again.

(Ruth and Soledad laughs) With over 70 films and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, her legacy is on display at the largest children's museum in the world.

- Are you creating a world here?

- [Soledad] We'll see, in more ways than one, why she was first.

♪ Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Whoa, oh, whoa, oh ♪ (warm upbeat music) - [Announcer] Major funding for this program provided by Felicia Taylor, a journalist who dedicated much of her life's work to honoring and celebrating the accomplishments of women.

(energetic rock music) - When Ruth Carter tells stories, she doesn't use words.

She uses wardrobe.

Love it.

Look at that.

This dress is insane.

- [Ruth] It's insane and- - We meet at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis where an entire exhibit brings her iconic costumes and the stories behind them to life.

This display has been in a number of museums.

- This is its eighth museum.

- [Soledad] Wow.

- [Ruth] And every museum actually configures it a little bit differently.

It fits into 6,000 square feet.

- Mm-hmm.

That's your childhood sewing machine.

- It is!

It is.

- That's so old-school.

- That was the one that was in my room.

Like, every time I look at it, I go, "My brothers, if they came through this exhibit, they would get a big laugh out of that machine being in this exhibit."

- [Soledad] You were one of eight kids?

- [Ruth] Yes.

The youngest of eight.

- Did you like being in a big family?

- Oh, I did.

And I feel like a lot of my inspiration came from like, really emulating my brothers, mainly, who were closer in age to me than my sisters.

So my brother Robert, who painted, he had an exhibit in our local town that we were so proud that his work was, you know, on display.

And my brother Roy was a sketch artist.

I just wanted to be like them.

I think my mother taught me how to look at people and how to see their stories, how to see the person behind the eyes.

- And we're here.

Zodiac vintage.

- Yeah.

- [Soledad] Whew!

Oh, it's so cute.

Shaped by sketches and empathy, Ruth sees more than clothes.

She sees a story.

And sometimes, to find it, she goes hunting.

- It's nice to come in and get ideas.

- [Soledad] Aisle by aisle.

Your store is so cute!

- Thank you.

- Uh-huh.

- [Soledad] We love it.

- [Owner] I can actually take your jacket if you wanna dive in.

- Oh, gosh.

- Oh, thank you.

- That would be amazing.

Thank you.

(lively pop music) Did you always have a sense of style yourself?

- Not at all.

I was the anti-fashion, I think.

I came up during like Madonna and mismatch earrings and asymmetrical haircuts.

- But isn't that fashion, not anti-fashion?

- Yeah, but I feel like it's the anarchy, you know?

- I used to have those plastic Madonna bracelets.

- Yeah, yeah.

That's where I was.

(funky upbeat music) - Did you know what you wanted to be when you were younger?

- There were no costume designers in my neighborhood that I could say I wanted to be that.

But you know, we'd go to Broadway shows, you know, with the church on a bus trip.

I saw "Mama I Want To Sing!"

I saw "The Wiz."

I was always in programs, Boys and Girls Club, so I think the arts was around me.

And I think the influence of the arts, it was part of like, my development.

(vehicle horn honking) - One thing I love about vintage stores is every corner you find something.

Do most vintage stores have like, a book selection?

- Yeah, like, they collect all.

They are interested in all kinds of things and you know, books go along with that.

Sometimes it's magazines.

I have a collection of Ebonys that go all the way back to the '40s.

As you can see, there's lots of inspirations on the walls.

Inspirations are important for all of us.

It's kind of the roadmap to doing what we do.

- [Soledad] Do you get a lot of inspiration from Black authors and Black playwrights?

- I do, I mean, so most people think I got into costume design because I liked fashion and fashion designers, but it was really like Lorraine Hansberry and Sonia Sanchez and James Baldwin.

I mean, I grew up reading their stories, the poetry, the plays, and I could actually see the characters.

And I was so excited to bring some of those characters to life.

- And that's what got you into the costuming.

- Yeah, it did.

It did.

I see there's Lorraine Hansberry, "A Raisin in the Sun."

You know, I was acting first.

I played Beneatha, the sister.

- [Soledad] So you played Beneatha in college?

- In college at Hampton.

It was so much fun.

Oh, I remember that well.

And since costuming is a faction of creating the story, it was the thing that I latched onto.

But I think it could have been lighting, it could have been writing, it could have been almost anything because I wanted to be in the world of it all.

(warm stirring music) - [Soledad] When did you know you were an artist?

- I really don't consider myself an artist.

I feel saying that you're an artist, it comes with so much responsibility.

- You don't think you're an artist?

We're literally sitting in a room with examples of your art all around us.

- Well, I grew up with artists, and I always thought of an artist being a visual artist.

It wasn't until, I think, like an exhibition like this where I saw like, the mindset that I was in when I did this film, the color palettes that I crafted together when I did another film, and seeing them all together, I could, yes, actually see the artistry in costume design and that, you know, we can consider ourselves artists.

It's a visual medium.

It's for the big screen.

And so you really do have to understand, that's your canvas.

So I guess I am an artist.

(both laughing) - [Soledad] A painter, a sketch artist, her talents are on display in every nook.

Look at you.

- [Ruth] That's me with the Shaft coat.

That's that coat right there.

Looking kinda young there, right?

This is me in college.

- Young then?

Now.

- [Ruth] How about that?

- That's in college.

That's so cute.

(Ruth laughs) (smooth upbeat music) - [Ruth] And here are very early on sketches from "Do the Right Thing," "School Daze."

- [Soledad] You met Spike in LA even though he's famously- - Yeah.

- a New York loving- - New Yorker.

- New Yorker.

How did that conversation go that you started to working together?

- At first, we were all hanging out.

We're all about the same age, so we'd, you know, go to a club and dance, and he was constantly talking to me at that time about getting film experience.

I wanted to stay in theater, but he was, you know, hell-bent on telling me how to get film experience, and he said, "Go to USC or UCLA and to the senior thesis office and sign up to volunteer on a student film," and I did.

- [Soledad] Why did he?

- It felt like the right thing to do.

It really did.

It felt like an adventure, you know?

And I say to young people all the time, you know, "Now's the time to go on an adventure."

And that was my adventure.

(lively funky music) One morning, bright and early before the sun comes up, I get a phone call.

A voice on the other side says, "Ruth."

I say, "Hello?"

"Ruth."

"Hello?"

- "This is the man of your dreams."

I said, "Denzel?"

(audience laughing) He says, "No, this is Spike, (audience laughing) and I want you to do my movie, 'School Daze.'"

- [Soledad] Ruth's unforgettable long, black talent show gloves and her fraternity roll call sweats launched a creative partnership that infused Black culture.

- It was the perfect first film because I'd gone to Hampton.

Spike had gone to Morehouse.

A lot of our friends were on it who also went to HBCUs so the experience was so close to us that it was a joy to put together what we knew.

- I remember watching that film and just seeing the message in those little details.

You know, that even just, who has curly hair?

Who has very straight hair?

Who's light skinned, who's dark, right?

Like, and those things are very important to Spike in his storytelling.

- Yes.

- But how does the detail come into play in the story that you're telling through the costuming?

- Oh, of course.

Like the wannabes and the jigaboos.

(smooth upbeat music) The jigaboos have a small j and the wannabes have a capital W on their jerseys.

But even beyond that, you know, costumes are a way of, you know, really bringing the audience in to really relate to what they're seeing, so, you know, there is some authenticity that goes into that.

- Was it very different to go from dressing people for the theater to figuring out costuming for film?

- Yes, it was very difficult to make that transition because the medium is different, the aesthetic.

Distance in the theater, you have to make things on stage like, really project, really much bigger.

And so it took me a minute to look at things closely like film does.

You can see the chipped nail polish in film, but on stage, those little details aren't really something that the audience can see.

A garment also has a life.

Part of the process of storytelling is to take something brand-new and create the story.

This is where that process takes place.

This is the aging and dyeing room.

Some really good aging.

You see how you almost don't see it, but the camera picks up aging really easily.

And so it's important that when you look at it with the naked eye, you can imagine how much more enhanced the camera is going to see it.

(lively upbeat music) - How long does it take you to dress a character?

- Sometimes it's overnight.

Sometimes it's in the moment like we're doing.

Other times, they have many changes.

It takes some weeks, you know.

If we're building things, it takes months sometimes, you know?

Depends if it's a superhero costume or if it's a contemporary thing and they're just walking down the street.

- [Soledad] "Do the Right Thing."

One of the greatest movies of all time.

- [Ruth] Yeah.

- That is probably the first film that I could, I remember what all the characters wore because everybody's wardrobe was underscoring the message of the character in the film.

- Yes.

"Do the Right Thing" happened in one day, the story itself, and all the people that were represented on the block and the actors and their characters would have one outfit.

We know Brooklyn as the melting pot.

There's culture there.

There's the African diaspora that's right with the Black diaspora so we wanted to represent that too.

And the saturated colors were there and the African fabrics were there.

- Let's talk a little bit about some of those specific.

Radio Raheem.

- Okay.

Radio Raheem coming around the block, and his T-shirt is painted.

It was representative of, you know, this neighborhood.

Spike wanted Radio Raheem to wear the love-hate rings for the monologue that he has in the film.

So I just walked into, you know, a random jewelry store and ordered love and hate.

But it was a process, too, of like understanding like, where pop culture was.

We really wanted to do a protest film.

It felt like we were having a voice and we were talking about the things that were important in our community.

So the fact that it influenced fashion later was a dividend.

- [Soledad] Ruth's work added dimension to stories that were too often flattened.

She didn't just dress characters, she made history wearable and unforgettable.

- [Ruth] You can tell by the zoot suits in "Malcolm X" that I was a theater person because the plaids, and even Spike was wanting a theatrical piece.

- Why did you put Denzel in like, an oversized suit when he's in the scene where he's gonna meet Elijah Muhammad?

- Elijah Muhammad, because he had been imprisoned for so long and he was in borrowed clothes.

- Ah.

Who was the character that was the hardest, biggest transformation?

- I look at everything as a challenge, you know, so when it's hard, I'm charged.

So I would say Denzel as Malcolm X had many transformations.

His storytelling was complicated so I had to do a lot of research and work with, you know, Denzel pretty closely.

When it's hard, it just, you know, energizes me even more.

- [Soledad] In 1993, she made history as the first Black person nominated for an Academy Award in costume design.

She didn't go home with a statue that night, but Ruth never paused.

- I was doing TV pilots in between movies.

I did the pilot for "Seinfeld," I did "In Living Color," so I was a working professional costume designer.

- [Soledad] For more than 30 years, she's designed costumes for films like "What's Love Got to Do with It," "Selma," and "Amistad," marking yet another milestone as she became the first Black woman ever to receive a second Oscar nomination in costume design.

Still, she returned home without the trophy.

- Yeah, you know, I never really thought about firsts.

- Hm.

- You know?

I feel like Spike kinda put in me this whole thing about, "Don't think about awards.

Don't think about those kinds of things.

Just do a good job.

This is the stuff that you can control.

This is what you can contribute.

Just focus on that."

- [Soledad] Ruth's work continued to make an impact, and now she's helping others see what costume design can reveal about a moment, a character, or even a world.

- [Ruth] What you guys got going on here?

- [Museum Interpreter] We're gonna look at some of your costumes.

- Okay.

- And then see the elements that tell story.

- Okay.

- And place and season.

- Okay, so let's take "Selma."

What does this story tell us?

- I think that's what's fun to ask kids too.

Are these folks getting ready to go to school?

Are they going to an event?

Is it something similar or different than what you're wearing today?

- I think most kids understand Sunday school, going to someplace and they have to dress up.

- Exactly.

- And they understand when dress up means that they're going someplace important.

I would say that they need to come up with a mood board that says, "This is a special occasion.

What fabrics make a special occasion?

What images make up a special occasion?"

Is it, Mom is dressed in her special dress and I'm dressed in my special dress, I have a neck tie.

All those things that are like, tactile.

- What's Afrofuturism?

- Afrofuturism is blending tradition, culture with character-building superheroes and using technology.

I like to expand that Afrofuturism into, you know, those who embodied, you know, a positive tomorrow.

And also, you know, when you think of Parliament-Funkadelic and all of the music.

- Very old-school.

- Yes!

- And very future.

- Yeah, very futuristic.

You know, you can fold that into Afrofuture too.

Once I got the offer to do "Black Panther," I'd never done a superhero film before.

It still was a huge mountain to climb.

A lot of research was involved in it.

- [Soledad] This is a great costume.

- Well, Ryan wanted the Basotho blanket to represent the shields for the Border Tribe.

And we printed the vibranium on one side, that's the silver part.

- Mm-hmm.

- [Ruth] And it represents the Lesotho people of South Africa.

- [Soledad] Oh, it's beautiful.

- [Ruth] And then the Dora.

- [Soledad] Mm, I love that.

- In their Maasai red.

And this is kind of like a real good example of Afrofuture because you see the Turkana tribe with the beadwork.

- [Soledad] Mm-hmm.

- [Ruth] Then you see the Himba tribe with the stretched leather.

We wanted the armor to feel like jewelry.

The shoulder pieces that you see and the little prickly neck rings, all of that's hand done by a jewelry designer.

Then we make a mold and then we make it out of rubber because they're doing stunts.

- [Soledad] Oh.

- [Ruth] And they can't have metal.

- [Soledad] Yes, of course, right?

- [Ruth] So we have to make it look like metal.

- Like, jab yourself in the neck.

- [Ruth] Yes, like, "Oh, she can't come back because we slit her throat."

- Oh, right.

(laughs) - [Ruth] Even the beadwork is rubber.

- [Soledad] Oh!

- [Ruth] Yeah.

- So then this, which looks like it would be so heavy.

- It's very light.

- Because it's not metal at all.

- Yeah.

- It's amazing how much thought and storytelling goes into just what you might think of as the look.

With every film, she raised the bar.

And more than 25 years after that historic Oscar nomination, the Academy finally caught up.

- "Black Panther," Ruth Carter!

(audience cheering) - This has been a long time coming.

(audience and Ruth laughing) Spike Lee, thank you for my start.

I hope this makes you proud.

(audience applauding) I dedicated my life to this career, and when I stood on stage, I was so proud.

Even though it wasn't a Spike Lee joint, he was there to see me win the award.

(tender warm music) - So how does the costumer know what to wear when she might be getting an Oscar?

- Well, it ain't easy, I'll tell you.

We gotta have some vibranium.

- Wow, wow.

- [Ruth] The bone on the back says, "2019 Oscar winner" in Wakandan font.

- Oh, love it.

(Ruth laughs) - I can't believe I wore it myself.

This is for my 97-year-old mother watching in Massachusetts.

(audience applauding) Mom, thank you for teaching me about people and their stories.

You are the original superhero.

Thank you.

- [Soledad] When Ruth returned to Wakanda, she dressed the kingdom in mourning, honoring the profound and personal loss of King T'Challa and the man who brought him to life, actor Chadwick Boseman, who died a year before they began filming the sequel.

- We were very emotional on the set that day.

We were hugging each other and crying, but it also was a celebration.

Ryan wanted bright white.

I felt like we were paying tribute to our friend Chadwick.

We all felt a sense of him that day.

- [Soledad] Grief was a costume throughout the story.

Wakanda brought you to someplace new, and Ruth Carter got even stronger.

- The Oscar goes to "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."

(audience cheers and applauds) Ruth Carter.

- Thank you to the Academy for recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman.

(audience cheering) - 2023, your Oscar acceptance speech.

- Oh, yeah.

- "Thank you to the Academy," you said.

- Did I say... (laughs) - "For recognizing the superhero that is a Black woman."

- Yes.

- Who were you speaking to in that moment?

- I was speaking to my mother who had passed just a few days earlier, but that speech was written while my mom was still here so I was speaking to her strength as a woman, to her journey.

Also to the women of Wakanda.

- [Soledad] Then in 2025, Paul Tazewell wins an Academy Award for costume design.

- Yes, Paul.

- [Soledad] You tweeted at him.

- Yes, I did.

Paul won for "Wicked" this year, 2025, and I think it was, it's just such a beautiful moment because I felt like when we walk in the room as Black people, of people of color in general, we're walking in as winners.

It further supports that we are breaking ground, we are opening doors, but also, we are here, and we represent Black excellence.

(stirring upbeat music) - [Soledad] Tonight, her influence is being celebrated for its power to shape the future.

- Hi.

Hey (celebrants clapping) - [Celebrant] She raised us.

- I'm still standing here.

- Yes, of course.

Oh my God.

- Ms.

Carter, Madam.

- Ms., Madam, Dr.

Carter.

- Dr.

Carter.

- Hey!

You are fabulous.

- So are you.

I had to come for you!

- Thank you.

Awesome, I'm glad you did.

- We are thrilled to be hosting a living legend tonight.

Someone whose artistry and vision have shaped how we see history and culture and also how we imagine the future.

I remember when my son was super young and saw "Black Panther" for the first time and he came out and he cried after seeing the movie.

And I said, "Why are you crying?

That was amazing."

And he said, "Because there's a whole bunch of people who now have a hero that looks like them."

Blows my mind, you know?

And so that's what we can do.

That's what these stories and these costumes can do.

Please join me in giving a warm welcome to two-time Academy Award-winning costume designer and visionary Ruth E. Carter.

(audience applauding) - Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

I'm honored to be here.

I'm honored that my work is in the Children's Museum, one of the biggest museums in the world.

It's so incredibly inspiring to see the kids' reactions to the Black Panther.

The Panther suit is here in Indianapolis.

(audience applauding) How exciting.

And then they go inside and they get to learn even more.

They get to see their history.

Let's see what you got here.

Oh, I saw this coming together.

I saw... Wow, we're on the beach.

Boom.

Wow, there you go.

- [Adult] What do you say?

- [Child] Thank you.

- You're welcome!

- You refer to yourself a lot as a costumer, but you're a multihyphenate-type person, right?

I mean, you run things.

- [Ruth] Mm-hmm.

- You are an author.

You are a CEO.

You're now a producer.

- Yes, I got an opportunity to work with Serena on the Ann Lowe story.

(elegant piano music) I will always love costume design.

I love mentorship.

I see myself mentoring again and again and again seeing myself, you know, in the producer's chair offering some advice to mentees.

- [Soledad] Ruth Carter is the first Black woman to ever win two Oscars.

She's also the first person to win for both the original and the sequel of a movie.

- This is the result of me having like, you know, a passion and studying my passion.

- [Soledad] And it's that passion to tell the perfect story that drives her to use her artistry to empower, to elevate and to design just the right look.

- I fall in love with my costumes.

There's a personal story in every single one of these and it's emotional.

You know, these are microcosms of a bigger body of work, a bigger experience that I've had in my life.

And to see it all come together in one place for people to enjoy and for children to be inspired, it's important to me and it really does, you know, say that I was on the right path, and this is a representation of my path.

(warm upbeat music) (funky upbeat music) (funky upbeat music continues) (funky upbeat music continues) (warm upbeat music) - [Announcer] Major funding for this program provided by Felicia Taylor, a journalist who dedicated much of her life's work to honoring and celebrating the accomplishments of women.

(bold dramatic music) (lively upbeat music) (energetic upbeat music)