Ruth E. Carter Gets Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
In a virtual ceremony that you can watch live, Ruth E. Carter, the costume designer behind the visual, wearable storytelling in movies that include Black Panther, The Butler, Malcolm X, Do The Right Thing, and Dolomite is My Name, will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Thursday, February 25th, 2021 at 11:30 AM Pacific Time.
Ruth E. Carter Honored With Hollywood Walk of Fame Star
The official Twitter account for the Hollywood Walk of Fame tweeted out the announcement that they were honoring the costume designer’s award winning work, saying: “Motion Picture Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame via a virtual star ceremony on February 25, at 11:30 am on walkoffame.com #walkoffame #Coming2America @ZamundaRoyals @primevideo.”
Motion Picture Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter will be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame via a virtual star ceremony on February 25, at 11:30 am on https://t.co/WJ4HCLZ9Zn #walkoffame #Coming2America@ZamundaRoyals@primevideo pic.twitter.com/ExtgJe3ub7
— Walk of Fame (@WalkofFameStar) February 16, 2021
Carter will be the 2,694th individual to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She has the further distinction of being only the second person to be honored with a star for costume design, following Edith Head, who was honored with a star in 1974.
Edith Head posing with her Oscars. Photo: Oscars.org
Head was known as “the queen of her profession,” having clothed the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Robert Redford, and with more than 30 Oscar nominations under her sketchpad for her work on films such as Roman Holiday and All About Eve. So Carter’s star joins motion picture costuming royalty on the Walk of Fame.
2/24 – A Primer on Ruth E. Carter’s Career
Carter’s career spans three decades and more than forty films, dressing some of the most iconic characters in Black cinema. If you want to learn more about her illustrious career right now, including her start at the Santa Fe Opera (amazing to a person with a dance background), there’s a retrospective exhibition at the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Referencing Afropunk to “Black Panther,” #ATL muralist & #SCADgrad Brandon Sadler sets the stage for “Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design.” Wed 2pm @SCADdotedu's #deFINEART. Register: https://t.co/l1MyAVXcn1. @SCADFASH #RuthECarter #BrandonSadler#Sponsored pic.twitter.com/HVGOg4RuPE
— Creative Loafing ATL (@cl_atlanta) February 20, 2021
Furthermore, sometimes the museum hosts a virtual tour of the exhibit (get your tickets for tomorrow’s tour HERE).
Black Panther and the Glorious Costumes of Wakanda
However, readers of Marvel Blog are most likely to recognize Carter for her incredible costumes for the Ryan Coogler-directed Black Panther in 2018. Carter became the first Black woman to receive the Academy Award for Achievement in Costume Design thanks to her work on the MCU blockbuster, which starred the late Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, the eponymous King of Wakanda.
Photo: Awol Erizku for The New Yorker
In addition to providing the costumes for the Black Panther himself, Carter created arresting outfits for the whole cast, including Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda and Danai Gurira as Okoye, the Wakandan general who leads the elite royal warriors known as the Dora Milaje.
FashionAFRICANA founder Demeatria Boccella with Ruth E. Carter at Heroes and Sheroes: The Art and Influence of Ruth E. Carter in Black Cinema. Photo: John Colombo
In her Oscar acceptance speech for Black Panther, Carter acknowledged that while Marvel may have created the first Black superhero, it was “through costume design, we turned him into an African king.” She went on to thank the Academy for “honoring African royalty, and the empowered way women can look on screen.”
Ruth E. Carter wins Oscar for Black Panther. Photo: Oscars
Later on, Carter further spoke about the importance of seeing young women and girls dressed as her characters, saying:
When I see a young girl dressed as one of the ‘Black Panther’ warrior women … my heart wants to burst. My journey continues as I find new ways to give a voice to other important messages and characters whose stories need to be told and to inspire a new generation of heroes and sheroes, filmmakers, storytellers and costume designers to live their Afro future.
Final Thoughts: How Can We Watch Meteor Man?
If you’d like to see some of Carter’s additional superheroic costume design, her resume also includes the 1993 action comedy Meteor Man, which was written by, directed, and stars Robert Townsend. Funnily, the movie also stars another celebrity Marvel fans might recognize, Don Cheadle.
Photo: MGM
Will you be attending one of the events celebrating the costuming achievements of Carter? What’s your favorite costume from a film the designer has worked on?
