Ruth E. Carter, the legendary costume designer whose work has defined multiple eras of Black cinema, just hit a new career high. With her fifth Academy Award nomination for Sinners (Best Costume Design), Carter has now officially become the most-nominated Black woman in Oscar history across all categories.

This latest nod for Sinners — Ryan Coogler’s period horror that just set a record with 16 Oscar nominations — pushed Carter past every other Black woman in the Academy’s history.

Carter’s Oscar journey stretches back more than three decades. She first earned attention with nominations for Malcolm X (1992) and Amistad (1997), then made history by becoming the first Black woman to win an Oscar for costume design with Black Panther (2018). She followed that with a second win for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), making her the only Black woman to win more than once in Academy history.

What’s striking about Carter’s trajectory isn’t just the number of nominations, it’s the range of stories she’s helped bring to life. From hip-hop-infused Brooklyn streets in Spike Lee’s early work to the Afrofuturistic regalia of Wakanda that reshaped cultural fashion touchstones, her costumes have become part of the visual language of modern cinema.

On Sinners, Carter again blends historical specificity with symbolic texture, the kind of work that resonates with audiences and awards voters alike. It’s this mix of cultural intuition and technical mastery that keeps her at the top of the craft.

Her record now sits above icons like Viola Davis in total nominations by a Black woman, underscoring how rare this level of recognition still is but also how Carter keeps raising the bar year after year.