See costumes from the Oscar-nominated wardrobe of ‘Sinners’ at the African American Museum in Philadelphia
By Elizabeth Wellington, The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — “Sinners,” Ryan Coogler’s vampiric period film starring Michael B. Jordan made Academy Award history last week when it was nominated for 16 Oscars, more than any other film in the history of the award ceremony’s 98-year run.
It toppled the 14 nominations previously received by “All About Eve” (1950), “Titanic” (1997) and “La La Land” (2016). In addition to Michael B. Jordan’s best actor nomination and Coogler’s best director nod, “Sinners” Oscar-winning costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, received her fifth nomination for work on the film.
And six of those costumes are on display at the African American Museum through September in the traveling “Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism and Costume Design Exhibit.”
That includes Smoke and Stack’s (twins played by Jordan) memorable 1930s-era three-piece suits, with complementary fedora and newsboy cap, time pieces, and tiepins.
When working on the costumes, Coogler’s only direction to Carter was to dress Smoke in blue and Stack in red, she told The Inquirer in November.
Carter, not one to fret long, dove into her arsenal of research. By the time she began the fittings, she’d amassed an array of blue and red looks befitting of the 1930s sharecroppers-turned-bootleggers and juke joint owners.
“[And] when I put that red fedora on him, Ryan flipped out and said, ‘That’s it!’,” Carter said. “We wanted people to resonate with their clothing and it did.”
The Smoke and Stack effect went beyond “Sinners.” This Halloween there were tons of social media posts of revelers dressed as the mysterious twins.
Also a part of AAMP’s “Sinners” display is the earthy flowing dress best supporting actress nominee Wunmi Mosaku wore in her role as Annie. Annie is Smoke’s lover and a root woman who discovers the vampires in their Clarksdale, Mississippi, town.
Cornbread’s (Oscar Miller) tattered sharecropper outfit is on the dais along with Mary’s (Hailee Steinfeld) cream knit dress with its short sleeved bodice and pussy bow accent. Her matching knit beret and pearls are also on display. In the film, Mary is Stack’s childhood friend, turned girlfriend, turned vampire.
“I immerse myself in the mind, body, and soul of my characters,” said Carter. “Then I see them in my mind, how they move and with research I come up with a look that I feel is unique to them.”
The “Sinners” pieces are among the more than 80 looks featured in “Afrofuturism,” joining outfits from “Malcolm X,” Lee Daniels’ “The Butler,” “Coming 2 America,” “Black Panther” and its sequel, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
The show, headlining the African American Museum’s Semiquincentennial celebration, will be on display through September.
During her five decades in the movie business, Carter’s more than 60 films are big screen documentations of where Black Americans have been, who they are at the given moment, and who they dream of becoming.
Her work has shaped how the world sees African Americans around the world.
In the 2010s, a friend of hers suggested she plan a museum exhibit around her costumes. After “Black Panther,” she partnered with Marvel and in 2019, “Afrofuturism in Costume Design” debuted at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Atlanta Campus.
Philadelphia is the exhibit’s ninth — and longest — stop. It’s also the first stop for the “Sinners” costumes.
“I am a griot,” Carter said. “[Throughout my career,] I’ve developed a knowledge base that embraces our culture and speaks to all of us in a positive way.”
“Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design” will be on view through Sept. 6, 2026. African American Museum in Philadelphia, 701 Arch St., Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children.
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