This Oscar season has had its moments.
Some were shocked to see Best Actress go to Mikey Madison when Demi Moore’s comeback story was right there for people to feast on. Anora swept and catapulted Sean Baker to a new level of greatness as he waved goodbye to his days as an underappreciated indie director. Adrien Brody crushed Timothée Chalamet’s dreams of becoming the first ’90s-born actor to snag a Lead Actor Oscar win. No Other Land won Best Documentary even with no U.S. distributor and hostile film industry moguls in attendance. I’m Still Here rightfully became the Best International Feature, the first for a Brazilian movie at the Oscars.
Some surprises are disappointing, but others are a delight. Like Paul Tazewell winning Best Costume Design for his magical work on Wicked, becoming the first Black man to ever win this award and opening an ocean of opportunities for BIPOC artists to gain deserved recognition for their hard work behind the cameras of major films.
A tweet from my dear friend Whitney Anne Adams, a costume designer and protégé of the renowned Catherine Martin, caught my interest as she sang Tazewell’s praises. What follows is an insightful post-Oscars conversation with Whitney, delving into highlights of the past award-season achievements in costume design, the brilliance of Paul Tazewell, and what his win means for other BIPOC costume designers. Enjoy!
Jaylan Salah: How did you feel about this year’s Best Costume Design Oscar nominees?
Whitney Anne Adams: This year’s Best Costume Design nominees were fantastic —all brilliant and worthy of their nominations. I also had the great pleasure of being an additional assistant costume designer for a few months on A Complete Unknown last year, and it was an honor and a pleasure to work under the guidance of the great Arianne Phillips.
Jaylan Salah: Which film stood out to you in its costume design? Why do you, as a costume designer, think that Wicked costumes shine more than any other nominee this year?
Whitney Anne Adams: All these nominees had stunning designs, but I was blown away by the artistry and imagination of Paul Tazewell’s work for Wicked. He’s created shapes and textures we’ve never seen before. And just the sheer magnitude of builds and costume pieces is astounding. It’s quite difficult to create a fantasy world unlike our own and have it all make sense and feel grounded. He also had the task of making something new and different from the stage production but still keeping the essence of those characters and nodding to the original designs. He walked the thinnest, most difficult tightrope quite successfully and beautifully.
Jaylan Salah: How did you feel when you heard Paul Tazewell’s name announced as the winning Costume Designer for his work in Wicked? What was your history working with Paul, and how do you describe his work ethic?
Whitney Anne Adams: I was so very excited for Paul—it’s so well earned and so well deserved. Early in my career, I was a stitcher and a sometimes costume dresser substitute at the La Jolla Playhouse and got to work on costumes Paul designed for the Broadway-bound musical Memphis. His designs were gorgeous then, and he was so kind and wonderful to every single person working on the production. He has an incredible work ethic and always strives for the best possible design onstage, but never at the expense of his team. I’ve loved his work for years and am just over the moon for him. It’s been so wonderful to see him lifting his entire team on social media throughout the awards season, too.
Jaylan Salah: What does this historic win mean for future BIPOC designers? Has costume Design, as a category, celebrated diversity in its nominations throughout the years?
Whitney Anne Adams: I hope this win further shows the diverse makeup of the costume department and costume designers. We are one of the most diverse sections of the industry, and it’s beyond time that awards started reflecting that. Since the Academy Award for Best Costume Design was first presented in 1949, only 26 nominations out of 540 have been awarded to BIPOC honorees, with now seven wins as of last night. Only three Black designers have ever been nominated, and now two of them have won. Celebrating Ruth E. Carter’s recent two Oscar wins and Paul’s last night was so exciting. I grew up idolizing Eiko Ishioka and her stunning Oscar-winning work for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The list of BIPOC nominees is too short, and I hope it will grow longer next year. As we embark on the start of another season of discussions about costume design, I hope we all take personal action to seek out and watch diverse stories and designs and recognize the brilliant work of talented artists from the many communities that make up the industry both in America and across the world.
Jaylan Salah: Was there a film you enjoyed last year and wished had been on the Oscars’ Best Costume Design list?
Whitney Anne Adams: Like every year, there was so much wonderful work this year, but some of my other favorite costume designs were Emmanuelle Youchnovski’s The Substance, Sarah Evelyn’s The Fall Guy, Megan Bijou Coates’s Shirley, Brittany Loar’s Nickel Boys, Antoinette Messam’s The Book of Clarence, Alexis Forte’s Smile 2, and Mitchell Travers’s Mother’s Instinct.
