2025 Oscars Best Costume Design Predictions
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
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2025 Oscars Predictions:
Best Costume Design
Weekly Commentary (Updated Nov. 4, 2024): The buzz around the technical categories at the upcoming Oscars is reaching a fever pitch, with “Wicked” anticipated to be a force to be reckoned with, especially in the costume design arena.
At the helm of this potential triumph is renowned costume designer Paul Tazewell, an Oscar-nominated, Emmy and Tony Award-winning visionary, who first garnered Oscar attention for his work on Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake of “West Side Story,” made history as the first Black male costume designer to receive an Academy Award nomination. Only one Black costume designer has won previously: Ruth E. Carter, who shattered records by becoming the first Black woman to win multiple Oscars for her innovative threads in “Black Panther” (2018) and its sequel, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022). Tazewell’s eye for detail and authenticity is brilliantly worn by stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in “Wicked,” whose work promises a fusion of whimsical fantasy and sophisticated craftsmanship.
In this year’s race, Tazewell will likely face Janty Yates, another industry stalwart who claimed the Oscar in 2001 for her iconic work on “Gladiator.” Yates returns with “Gladiator II,” and audiences and industry voters will see the gritty, opulent Roman aesthetics that made the original film a triumph on full display.
Also vying for gold is Jacqueline West, a seasoned artisan with five Oscar nominations under her belt but yet to secure the win. Her distinguished portfolio includes nominations for “Quills” (2000), “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2008), “The Revenant” (2015), “Dune” (2021) and “Killers of the Flower Moon” (2023). West’s collaboration with director Denis Villeneuve on the film’s second installment finds her designs playing a crucial narrative role, as they embody the spirit of Villeneuve’s dystopian world-building.
Meanwhile, Colleen Atwood, a titan of costumes, is back with a vengeance. Currently tied for the second-most nominations in the category with a remarkable 12 nods (a record she shares with “Furiosa: A Mad Max Story” designer Jenny Beavan and the late Dorothy Jeakins), Atwood’s four wins — for “Chicago” (2002), “Memoirs of a Geisha” (2005), “Alice in Wonderland” (2010), and “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (2016) — could put her within reach of another piece of recognition. This year, she is in the running with “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” the sequel to Tim Burton’s cult classic that Warner Bros is positioning for tech prizes. Known for her fantastical and often gothic aesthetic, Atwood’s return to Burton’s zany world is edgy and has her as a dark horse.
More to come as the season unfolds.
Read: All Primetime Emmy predictions in every category on Variety’s Awards Circuit.
** denotes the film is not yet dated or can open in 2025.
And the Predicted Nominees Are
Rank | Performer & Film |
---|---|
1 | “Wicked” (Universal Pictures) — Paul Tazewell |
2 | “Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures) — Janty Yates |
3 | “Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) — Jacqueline West |
4 | “Maria” (Netflix) — Massimo Cantini Parrini |
5 | “Nosferatu” (Focus Features) — Linda Muir |
Next in Line
Rank | Performer & Film |
---|---|
6 | “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros.) — Colleen Atwood |
7 | “Blitz” (Apple Original Films) — Jacqueline Durran |
8 | “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures) — Arianne Phillips |
9 | “The Piano Lesson” (Netflix) — Francine Jamison-Tanchuck |
10 | “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros.) — Jenny Beavan |
Other Contenders
Rank | Performer & Film |
---|---|
11 | “The Brutalist” (A24) — Kate Forbes |
12 | “Saturday Night” (Sony Pictures) — Danny Glicker |
13 | “Queer” (A24) — J.W. Anderson |
14 | “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) — Virginie Montel |
15 | “Bob Marley: One Love” (Paramount Pictures) — Anna B. Sheppard |
16 | “Better Man” (Paramount Pictures) — Cappi Ireland |
17 | “The Apprentice” (Briarcliff Entertainment) — Laura Montgomery |
18 | “Firebrand” (Roadside Attractions) — Michael O’Connor |
19 | “Megalopolis” (Lionsgate) — Milena Canonero |
20 | “The Book of Clarence” (Sony Pictures) — Antoinette Messam |
Eligible Titles (Best Costume Design)
** This list is incomplete and not yet finalized. Not all films have distribution or release dates. All are subject to change.
“Alien: Romulus” (20th Century Studios) — Carlos Rosario
“All We Imagine as Light” (Janus Films/Sideshow) — Maxima Basu
“Anora” (Neon) — Jocelyn Pierce
“The Apprentice” (Briarcliff Entertainment) — Laura Montgomery
“Babygirl” (A24) — Kurt and Bart
“Back to Black” (Focus Features) — PC Williams
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros.) — Colleen Atwood
“Better Man” (Paramount Pictures) — Cappi Ireland
“Between the Temples” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Bikeriders” (Focus Features)
“Bird” (Mubi)
“Black Dog” (The Forge)
“Blink” (National Geographic)
“Blink Twice” (Amazon MGM)
“Blitz” (Apple Original Films)
“Bob Marley: One Love” (Paramount Pictures)
“The Book of Clarence” (Sony Pictures)
“The Brutalist” (A24)
“Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid!” (CNN Films)
“Challengers” (Amazon MGM)
“Civil War” (A24)
“The Colors Within” (GKids)
“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)
“Conclave” (Focus Features)
“The Count of Monte Cristo” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
“Daddio” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Dahomey” (Mubi)
“Daughters” (Netflix)
“Day of the Fight” (Falling Forward Films)
“Deadpool & Wolverine” (Marvel Studios)
“The Deliverance” (Netflix)
“Despicable Me 4” (Illumination/Universal Pictures)
“A Different Man” (A24)
“Dìdi” (Focus Features)
“Drive-Away Dolls” (Focus Features)
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.)
“Elton John: Never Too Late” (Walt Disney Pictures)
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)
“The End” (Neon)
“Evil Does Not Exist” (Sideshow)
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” (Roadside Attractions)
“Ezra” (Roadside Attractions)
“Fancy Dance” (Apple Original Films)
“Femme” (Utopia)
“The Fire Inside” (Amazon MGM)
“Firebrand” (Roadside Attractions)
“Flow” (Janus Films/Sideshow)
“Frida” (Amazon MGM)
“The Front Room” (A24)
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros.)
“Girls Will Be Girls” (Juno Films)
“Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” (Warner Bros.)
“Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures)
“Ghostlight” (IFC Films)
“Good One” (Metrograph Pictures)
“The Greatest Hits” (Searchlight Pictures)
“Green Border” (Kino Lorber)
“Hard Truths” (Bleecker Street)
“Here” (Sony Pictures)
“Heretic” (A24)
“His Three Daughters” (Netflix)
“Hit Man” (Netflix)
“Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1” (Warner Bros.)
“I Am Celine Dion” (Amazon MGM)
“I Saw the TV Glow” (A24)
“I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Idea of You” (Amazon MGM)
“IF” (Paramount Pictures)
“The Imaginary” (Netflix)
“In the Summers” (Music Box Films)
“Inside Out 2” (Pixar)
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” (Kino Lorber)
“It Ends With Us” (Sony Pictures)
“Janet Planet” (A24)
“Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.)
“Kinds of Kindness” (Searchlight Pictures)
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century Studios)
“Kneecap” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“The Last Showgirl” (Roadside Attractions)
“Lee” (Roadside Attractions)
“Longlegs” (Neon)
“The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” (Warner Bros.)
“Los Frikis” (Wayward/Range Releasing)
“Love Lies Bleeding” (A24)
“Maria” (Netflix)
“Megalopolis” (Lionsgate)
“Memoir of a Snail” (IFC Films)
“Misericordia” (Janus Films)
“Moana 2” (Walt Disney Pictures)
“Monkey Man” (Universal Pictures)
“The Most Precious of Cargoes” (StudioCanal)
“Mothers’ Instinct” (Neon)
“Mufasa: The Lion King” (Walt Disney Pictures)
“My Old Ass” (Amazon MGM)
“Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM/Orion)
“Nightbitch” (Searchlight Pictures)
“No Other Land” (Antipode Films)
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features)
“Oh, Canada” (Kino Lorber)
“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” (A24)
“One Life” (Bleecker Street)
“The Order” (Vertical Entertainment)
“The Outrun” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Parthenope” (A24)
“The People’s Joker” (Altered Innocence)
“The Piano Lesson” (Netflix)
“Piece by Piece” (Focus Features)
“Queer” (A24)
“A Real Pain” (Searchlight Pictures)
“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” (Netflix)
“Rez Ball” (Netflix)
“The Room Next Door” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Rumours” (Bleecker Street)
“Santosh” (Metrograph Pictures)
“Sasquatch Sunset” (Bleecker Street)
“Saturday Night” (Sony Pictures)
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Neon)
“September 5” (Paramount Pictures)
“Shirley” (Netflix)
“Sing Sing” (A24)
“The Six Triple Eight” (Netflix)
“Small Things Like These” (Lionsgate)
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (Paramount Pictures)
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” (Kino Lorber)
“Spellbound” (Netflix)
“Stopmotion” (IFC/Shudder)
“The Substance” (Mubi)
“Sugarcane” (National Geographic Documentary Films)
“Suncoast” (Searchlight Pictures)
“Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” (Warner Bros.)
“That Christmas” (Netflix)
“Thelma” (Magnolia Pictures)
“To a Land Unknown” (Watermelon Pictures)
“Transformers One” (Paramount Pictures)
“Tuesday” (A24)
“Twisters” (Universal Pictures)
“Ultraman: Rising” (Netflix)
“Unstoppable” (Amazon MGM)
“Venom: The Last Dance” (Sony Pictures)
“Vermiglio” (Janus Films and Sidehow)
“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (Netflix)
“We Grown Now” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“We Live in Time” (A24)
“Wicked” (Universal Pictures)
“The Wild Robot” (DreamWorks Animation)
“Wildcat” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
“Will & Harper” (Netflix)
“Woman of the Hour” (Netflix)
“Yintah” (Netflix)
“Young Woman and the Sea” (Walt Disney Pictures)
More Information (Costume Design)
2024 category winner: “Poor Things” (Searchlight Pictures) — Holly Waddington
2024-2025 Oscars Calendar and Timeline (all dates are subject to change)
Eligibility period: Jan. 1, 2024 – Dec. 31, 2024
General entry, best picture, RAISE submission deadline: Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024
Governors Awards: Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024
Preliminary voting begins Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, at 9 a.m. PT.
Preliminary voting ends Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, at 5 p.m. PT.
Oscar Shortlists Announcement: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024
Eligibility period ends: Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024
Nominations voting begins Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, at 9 a.m. PT.
Nominations voting ends Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT.
Oscar Nominations Announcement: Friday, Jan. 17, 2025
Oscar Nominees Luncheon: Monday, Feb. 10, 2025
Final voting begins Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at 9 a.m. PT
Final voting ends: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT
Scientific and Technical Awards: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025
97th Oscars: Sunday, March 2, 2025
Oscars Prediction Categories
— | — |
---|---|
Makeup and Hairstyling | |
Sound | Visual Effects |
Animated Short | Documentary Short |
Live Action Short | Casting (coming in 2026) |
About the Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, is Hollywood’s most prestigious artistic award in the film industry. Since 1927, nominees and winners have been selected by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Nineteen branches are represented within the nearly 11,000-person membership. The branches are actors, animators, associates, casting directors, cinematographers, costume designers, directors, documentary, executives, film editors, makeup and hairstylists, marketing and public relations, members-at-large, members-at-large (artists’ representatives), music, producers, production design, short films, sound, visual effects and writers.
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