Costumes are usually contained by their frames. Hundreds of hours are poured into their conception and creation, yet they exist in the fleeting moment to describe a person at the specific time of action in a television show or film.

For six decades Ann Roth has sustained a storied career in costume design, Like any great story, the hero has a drive and motivation the audience never sees. Following her CDGA win for Period Film and recent Best Costume Oscar for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom…

What do Beyoncé, cowboys, and Godzilla have in common? Other than whopping box office returns, the answer is the distinctive and innovative costumes of Sharen Davis. Her costume design moves seamlessly between genres, from Westerns to science fiction, and every decade of the 20th century. Davis deals in hyperbole like it’s an everyday language. She took Django (Jamie Foxx) from chains and rags to Calvin Candie’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) burgundy suit in a move so brash that the movie itself stops to take a moment and appreciate it. Beyoncé time traveled right into her glittering gowns in Dreamgirls. She took Westworld from cowboys to samurai to the not-too-distant future.

Huddled in her hotel room in 2019 as Hurricane Barry raged over New Orleans, costume designer Denise Wingate spent the day devouring Daisy Jones & The Six. Her friend, producer Michael Nelson, had recommended she read it for her next project. He knew as an ex-club kid on the Sunset Strip who toured with the Bangles for a year, she would be perfect for the job. “It was so up my alley,” says Wingate.

“Costume design tells everything,” says 2023 Career Achievement Award honoree Francine Jamison-Tanchuck. “It’s what you see at first and just opens up the whole story.”