We’ve rounded up every winner for Best Costume Design in Oscars history—from the earliest honorees to the most recent winner at the 2026 Academy Awards.
Costume design is arguably one of the most powerful storytelling tools in film. Whether it's a sweeping historical epic or a contemporary character study, what characters on screen can sometimes tell us as an audience far more than a script does. At the Academy Awards, the category of Best Costume Design celebrates the artists responsible for building these visual identities—the people who design, curate, and stitch together the wardrobes of cinema’s most memorable films. While the first Academy Awards were held in 1929, the award for Best Costume Design was not given out for a full 20 years after the first-ever ceremony. From when the category was introduced in 1949 to 1957 and between 1960 and 1967, the Academy handed out separate awards for black-and-white films and color films.
Over the decades, the category has honored some of the industry’s most influential creatives, including legends like Edith Head, who defined the glamour of Hollywood's Golden Age through iconic films like “Rear Window,” “Sabrina,” “All About Eve,” and “Roman Holiday,” and won a record 8 Academy Awards. Modern visionaries such as Ruth E. Carter, opens in new tab, Milena Canonero, Sandy Powell, and Colleen Atwood, whose work has shaped everything from historical dramas to blockbuster franchises, have also had their work recognized
Below, we’ve rounded up every winner for Best Costume Design in Oscars history—from the earliest honorees to the most recent victor at the 2026 Academy Awards.
2026
2025
"Wicked" (2024) — Paul Tazewell
2024
"Poor Things" (2023) — Holly Waddington
2023
"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (2022) — Ruth E. Carter
2023
2022
"Cruella" (2021) — Jenny Beavan
2021
"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (2020) — Ann Roth
2020
"Little Women" (2019) — Jacqueline Durran
2019
Black Panther" (2018) — Ruth E. Carter
2018
"Phantom Thread" (2017) — Mark Bridges
2017
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (2016) — Colleen Atwood
2016
"Mad Max: Fury Road" (2015) — Jenny Beavan
2015
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" (2014) — Milena Canonero
2014
"The Great Gatsby" (2013) — Catherine Martin
2013
"Anna Karenina" (2012) — Jacqueline Durran
2012
"The Artist" (2011) — Mark Bridges
2011
"Alice in Wonderland" (2010) — Colleen Atwood
2010
"The Young Victoria" (2009) — Sandy Powell
2009
"The Duchess" (2008) — Michael O'Connor
2008
"Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (2007) — Alexandra Byrne
2007
"Marie Antoinette" (2006) — Milena Canonero
2006
"Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005) — Colleen Atwood
2005
"The Aviator" (2004) — Sandy Powell
2004
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (2003) — Ngila Dickson & Richard Taylor
2003
"Chicago" (2002) — Colleen Atwood
2002
"Moulin Rouge!" (2001) — Catherine Martin & Angus Strathie
2001
"Gladiator" (2000) — Janty Yates
2000
"Topsy-Turvy" (1999) — Lindy Hemming
1999
"Shakespeare in Love" (1998) — Sandy Powell
1998
"Titanic" (1997) — Deborah Lynn Scott
1997
"The English Patient" (1996) — Ann Roth
1996
"Restoration" (1995) — James Acheson
1995
"The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" (1994) — Lizzy Gardiner & Tim Chappel
1994
"Age of Innocence" (1993) — Gabriella Pescucci
1993
"Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992) — Eiko Ishioka
1992
"Bugsy" (1991) — Albert Wolsky
1991
"Cyrano de Bergerac" (1990) — Franca Squarciapino
1990
"Henry V" (1989) — Phyllis Dalton
1989
"Dangerous Liaisons" (1988) — James Acheson
1988
"The Last Emperor" (1987) — James Acheson
1987
"A Room with a View" (1986) — Jenny Beavan & John Bright
1986
"Ran" (1985) — Emi Wada
1985
"Amadeus" (1984) — Theodor Pištěk
1984
"Fanny and Alexander" (1983) — Marik Vos-Lundh
1983
"Gandhi" (1982) — Bhanu Athaiya & John Mollo
1982
"Chariots of Fire" (1981) — Milena Canonero
1981
"All That Jazz" (1980) — Albert Wolsky
1980
"Tess" (1979) — Anthony Powell
1979
"Death on the Nile" (1979) — Anthony Powell
1978
"Star Wars" (1977) — John Mollo
1977
"Fellini's Casanova" (1976) — Danilo Donati
1976
"Barry Lyndon" (1975) — Ulla-Britt Söderlund & Milena Canonero
1975
"The Great Gatsby" (1974) — Theoni V. Aldredge
1974
"The Sting" (1973) — Edith Head
1973
"Travels with My Aunt" (1972) — Anthony Powell
1972
"Nicholas and Alexandra" (1971) — Yvonne Blake & Antonio Castillo
1971
"Cromwell" (1970) — Vittorio Nino Novarese
1970
"Anne of the Thousand Days" (1969) —Margaret Furse
1969
"Romeo and Juliet" (1968) — Danilo Donati
1968
"Camelot" (1967) — John Truscott
1967
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966, B&W) — Irene Sharaff
"A Man for All Seasons" (1966, Color) — Joan Bridge & Elizabeth Haffenden
1966
"Darling" (1965, B&W) — Julie Harris
"Doctor Zhivago" (1965, Color) — Phyllis Dalton
1965
"The Night of the Iguana" (1964, B&W) — Dorothy Jeakins
"My Fair Lady" (1964, Color) — Cecil Beaton
1964
"8½" (1963, B&W) — Piero Gherardi
"Cleopatra" (1963, Color) — Irene Sharaff, Vittorio Nino Novarese & Renie Conley
1963
"What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" (1962, B&W) — Norma Koch
"The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" (1962, Color) — Mary Wills
1962
"La Dolce Vita" (1961, B&W) — Piero Gherardi
"West Side Story" (1961, Color) — Irene Sharaff
1961
"The Facts of Life" (1960, B&W) — Edith Head & Edward Stevenson
"Spartacus" (1960, Color) — Arlington Valles
1960
"Some Like It Hot" (1959, B&W) — Orry-Kelly
"Ben-Hur" (1959, Color) — Elizabeth Haffenden
1959
"Les Girls" (1957, Color) — Orry-Kelly
1958
"Gigi" (1958, Color) — Cecil Beaton
1957
"The Solid Gold Cadillac" (1956, B&W) — Jean Louis
"The King and I" (1956, Color) — Irene Sharaff
1956
"I'll Cry Tomorrow" (B&W, 1955) — Helen Rose
"Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" (1955, Color) — Charles LeMaire
1955
"Sabrina" (1954, B&W) — Edith Head
"Gate of Hell" (1954, Color) — Sanzo Wada
1954
"Roman Holiday" (1953, B&W) — Edith Head
"The Robe" (1953, Color) — Charles LeMaire and Emile Santiago
1953
"The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952, B&W) — Helen Rose
"Moulin Rouge" (1952, Color) — Marcel Vertès
1952
"A Place in the Sun" (1951, B&W) — Edith Head
"An American in Paris" (1951, Color) — Orry-Kelly, Walter Plunkett, and Irene Sharaff
1951
"All About Eve" (1950, B&W) — Edith Head & Charles LeMaire
"Samson and Delilah" (1950, Color) — Edith Head, Dorothy Jeakins, Gile Steele, Elois Jenssen & Gwen Wakeling
1950
"The Heiress" (1949, B&W) — Edith Head & Gile Steele
"The Adventures of Don Juan" (1949, Color) — Leah Rhodes, Travilla & Marjorie Best
1949
"Hamlet" (1948, B&W) — Roger K. Furse
"Joan of Arc" (1948, Color) — Dorothy Jeakins & Barbara Karinska
