In Hollywood, a costume designer’s job is to tell stories through fashion—so it’s fitting that at tonight’s 2026 Oscars, many of the nominated costumers chose red carpet looks filled with meaning.
The group of honored costume designers this year—Malgosia Turzanska (Hamnet), Deborah L. Scott (Avatar: Fire and Ash), Kate Hawley (Frankenstein), Miyako Bellizzi (Marty Supreme), and Ruth E. Carter (Sinners)—reflects a range of different style sensibilities; onscreen, their work brought eras and settings as various as 16th-century Warwickshire, 1930s Mississippi, and 1950s New York to thrilling life. For tonight’s red carpet, however, they stuck to more personal stories. While a few costumers embraced vintage pieces, others created their looks themselves.
Turzanska was in the latter camp. “I designed the dress to feel like when you open a new box of safety pins at the beginning of the project,” she tells Vogue. The sculptural denim piece was made in John Kristiansen’s New York City costume shop, after which Turzanska embellished it with silver pins (aided by two of her best friends, Lou and Robyn). “Whenever someone asks me about my most basic work tool, I always say a safety pin,” Turzanska continues. “I always have a couple in my pocket. It is an unsung hero of the costume department, so I am very proud to put it on a bit of a pedestal finally!”
