Oscars 2023: Best Costume Design Predictions

We will update all our Oscar predictions throughout the season, so keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2023 Oscar race. The nomination round of voting will take place from January 12 to January 17, 2023, with the official Oscar nominations announced on January 24, 2023. The final voting is between March 2 and 7, 2023. Finally, the 95th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 12 and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT.

See our initial thoughts on what to expect at the 95th Academy Awards here.

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The State of the Race

Bets Costume Design is now a race between “Elvis” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” thanks to their wins at the Costume Designer Guild Awards on February 27 at the Fairmont Century Plaza. Multiple Oscar winner Catherine Martin won the Period prize for Baz Luhrmann’s delirious “Elvis” (beating rival Oscar nominees Mary Zophres for “Babylon” and Jenny Beaven for “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”), while “EEAAO” costume designer Shirley Kurata was the surprise winner of the Sci-Fi Fantasy award, beating favorite Ruth Carter, who’s looking for an Oscar repeat for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

While Martin is still the one to beat by virtue of her Oscar pedigree (“The Great Gatsby” and “Moulin Rouge!”), Kurata has emerged as the challenger as a result of her film’s surging momentum. The multiverse spectacle from the Daniels is the Oscar leader with 11 nominations and the favorite to win Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh.

Martin creatively breaks down Elvis’ flamboyant wardrobes for Best Actor nominee Austin Butler into ’50s teenage rebel, ’60s Hollywood icon, and ’70s Vegas glam comeback. These are represented by a pink-and-black suit, a tight, black, leather-on-leather outfit, and a white jumpsuit. The result displays the King of Rock’s ability to redefine his identity to fit the period.

Kurata traces several variations on the “EEAAO” characters, but her main focus was on the colorful and exotic costuming worn by Yeoh and Best Supporting Actress nominee Stephanie Hsu for their mother-daughter “verse jumping” and kung-fu fighting. Yeoh’s wardrobe ranges from the Chinatown-inspired button-down garb to the opulent robe as a famous Chinese opera singer to the chic gown as a contemporary movie star attending a film premiere. Hsu dons many themed wardrobes that are eye-popping, from K-Pop to Goth to an Elvis jumpsuit.

Carter returns with Ryan Coogler’s “Wakanda Forever” sequel to emphasize the changing wardrobe of grief-stricken yet noble Queen Ramonda (Best Supporting Actress nominee Angela Bassett), as well as to tap the ancient Mayan civilization with a touch of sea life for the underwater Talokan people.

Zophres, a four-time nominee, delivers the greatest work of her illustrious career in “Babylon,” Damien Chazelle’s magnum opus about Hollywood’s wild party in the late ’20s. Gathering costumes and fabrics from all over the United States and Europe, she proceeded to fit 250 speaking parts and 7,000 backgrounds. But the highlight was dressing Margot Robbie’s sex goddess, including her unforgettable red party dress.

Beavan, last year’s winner for “Cruella,” creates a tour de force about haute couture in ’50s France for “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.”

Below are the nominees ranked in order of likelihood to win:

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel/Disney)
“Babylon” (Paramount)
“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” (Focus Features)

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