Story Gatherings | Nashville, Tennessee

Ruth Carter on Using Clothes to Tell a Story

Ruth Carter on Using Clothes to Tell a Story

Ruth Carter isn’t just a costume designer, she’s one of the best to ever do it. Ruth shares with us how she uses costume design as an integral part of visual storytelling, and how telling a character’s story through costume gives it life.

“The authenticity and the integrity of what I do is super important to me, and therefore, showing communities in a real way is what I pride myself on.”

During her near 30-year film career, Carter has been nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work on Spike Lee’s biographical film Malcolm X (1992), Steven Spielberg’s historical drama film Amistad (1997), and her most recent work on Ryan Coogler’s Marvel superhero film Black Panther (2018), for which she won the award and became the first African-American to win an Academy Award in that category.

Take a listen to Ruth’s backstage conversation with Harris at STORY 2019.