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Summer 2020 The Costume Designer 19 Francine Jamison-Tanchuck The Passionate A love for one's work provides the blaze to go the dis- tance. Jamison-Tanchuck is a heart alight that has set the path on fire to burn through both racism and sexism in Hollywood. Had it not been for her determination to dem- onstrate that her womanhood was enough, the Costume Design role for Glory could have been passed to another. There were a few executives on the film that felt a little hesitant of a woman being able to capture the grittiness of war, yet her passion allowed her creativity to soar, and she won them over with her stunning work. Her enthusiasm continued throughout the years as she shifted to comedy in such projects as Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Big Momma's House, Fat Albert and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties. She spent months conceptualizing Grace Jones' nine-foot-wide Elizabethan era-inspired Mother Earth cos- tume made of strips of jersey and leather for a scene in the acclaimed film, Boomerang. She brought the truth to screen with costumes in films such as Birth of a Nation, Detroit, and Just Mercy. With such legendary work on screen, Jamison-Tanchuck reminds us that the heart is the beginning of trailblazing. Michelle Cole The Intuit It's the warmth in her voice, the gut feeling she uses to describe her work, and honor for the realm that her late parents inhabit. While Cole loves research, often spending hours with books inherited from her father, it's her under- standing of what can't be seen or heard that helps bring a character to life with a sense of soul. Case in point, her early career days as a Costume Designer on In Living Color. While she effortlessly trailblazed not only a path for herself, but for mainstream and high fashion by influencing none other than Karl Lagerfeld with her iconic looks for the Fly Girls. It was the more challenging aspect of this job that allowed discern- ment to solidify her name and give her the confidence to keep moving forward. Her intuition stepped in to give Jamie Foxx a blonde wig that completed his outlandish character, Wanda, and to substitute a handkerchief with socks for Damon Wayans' portrayal of the neighborhood lush Anton Jackson. From there, she garnered seven Emmy nominations and her work with comedians continued in a range of modes from relaxed to luxurious on Martin, The Bernie Mac Show, The Steve Harvey Show, black-ish, grown-ish and most recently, #blackAF. Sharen Davis The Wise In order to blaze trails, you have to know which way to go, what to burn down, and what to preserve. Born in Louisiana yet spending her formative years in Illinois, Germany, and Japan, Davis was able to familiarize herself with the terrain of the world. With this immersion in culture and a degree in the theater arts, Davis settled into the confines of America with a map to navigate a complex and oppressive industry. Not only did her sense of awareness inform her when to speak out against injustice, it also directed her when not to, and forge ahead to open the door for future designers. Her insight was also a guide when it became time to create the aesthetic of Ray and Dreamgirls, both nominated for "Best Achievement in Costume Design" for the 2005 and 2006 Academy Awards and lent to the visual build behind Equinox, Devil in a Blue Dress, The Pursuit of Happyness, Looper, Django Unchained and more. Ruth E. Carter The Seer To have an acute eye for the future, one must have a strong sense of the past. Such is the case with Ruth E. Carter, who as a teen was a devotee to the depth of art, imagina- tion, and literature within the stacks of her hometown's library. There she fell into the worlds of playwrights like James Baldwin, historians such as Alex Haley, and poets like Langston Hughes and Sonja Sanchez. Visions of multiple timelines prepared her to reconstruct key periods in Spike Lee's benchmark film, Do the Right Thing, and the cin- ematic tribute to Malcolm X, as well as Steven Spielberg's take on Amistad. When Carter was approached by Ryan Coogler for Black Panther, her years of internalizing history and Black culture for the many films she had worked on provided her the capacity and context to create the film's Afro Future look. She envisioned a multicultural, futuristic world where traditional and contemporary blended with technology. Audiences were dazzled. African American audiences who yearned to see themselves from a new per- spective, would see the characters within their costumes become heroes. This is the work of a trailblazer. Carter saw herself, her ancestors, and those around her with dignity and grandeur. Her foresight helped her earn a historic win as the first Black person to win Best Costume Design at the 2019 Academy Awards.