2023 Oscars Best Costume Design nominees: 3 past champs, 1 veteran and 1 rookie

The films in contention for the 2023 Best Costume Design Oscar are “Babylon,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.” Our current odds show “Elvis” (10/3) to be the frontrunner, followed in order by “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (37/10), “Babylon” (9/2), “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (9/2), and “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” (9/2).

Jenny Beavan’s nomination for “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” is her 12th and could result in her fourth win, as she previously bagged trophies for “A Room with a View” (1987), “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2016), and “Cruella” (2022). She would be only the fifth costumer to achieve as many victories, after Edith Head, Irene Sharaff, Milena Canonero, and Colleen Atwood. Her other eight bids came for “The Bostonians” (1985), “Maurice” (1988), “Howards End” (1993), “The Remains of the Day” (1994), “Sense and Sensibility” (1996), “Anna and the King” (2000), “Gosford Park” (2002), and “The King’s Speech” (2011).

Catherine Martin (“Elvis”) is seeking her third victory here after being feted for her work in “Moulin Rouge!” (2002) and “The Great Gatsby” (2014). All four of her costume design bids, the second of which she earned for “Australia” (2009), were for films written, directed, and produced by her husband of 26 years, Baz Luhrmann. Her previous two wins in this category were paired with triumphs in Best Production Design, and the same could apply this year.

If Ruth Carter succeeds on her bid for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” she will be the first person to ever win this award for both an original movie (“Black Panther,” 2019) and its sequel. The three continuation pieces that have prevailed here without their parent films having done so are “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004), “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” (2008), and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Carter, who was first nominated for her work in “Malcolm X” (1993) and “Amistad” (1998), would also make history as the first Black woman to win multiple Oscars at all.

The only returning nominee in this group who has not won before is Mary Zophres (“Babylon”), who earned her three previous bids for “True Grit” (2011), “La La Land” (2017), and “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (2019). At this point, half of the films for which she has been nominated were directed by Damien Chazelle, and the other half were helmed by the Coen Brothers.

This year’s sole first-timer is Shirley Kurata (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”), whose career dates back to 1996. Having already made history as this category’s first Asian American female nominee, she could now follow Bhanu Athaiya (“Gandhi,” 1983), Emi Wada (“Ran,” 1986), and Eiko Ishioka (“Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” 1993) as the fourth Asian woman to take the prize.

The films that won in this category most recently are “Cruella” (2022), “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (2021), “Little Women” (2020), and “Black Panther” (2019). This year’s winner will be revealed during the 95th Academy Awards ceremony, airing March 12 on ABC.

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