Oscar winner Ruth E. Carter brings costume exhibit to Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Ruth E. Carter is a trailblazer, a history maker, and a two-time Oscar-winning creative force in cinematic costuming.

The exhibition of her work opens Saturday, November 1, at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

From "Black Panther" to "Coming 2 America" to "Sinners" and "Selma," we got a first look at her groundbreaking collection.

"You'll see my journey as a young girl with a sewing machine in her bedroom all the way up to the Oscar," says Carter, who has two Oscars in her collection. First, for her 2019 win for Marvel's "Black Panther." In 2023, she won again for "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."

Her award-winning costumes are now on display in a celebration of her cinematic masterpieces at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

"I was the first Black costume designer to receive the Oscar," she says. "I think that is the connectivity between Philadelphia, freedom and my exhibition."

She calls her collection: Afrofuturism in Costume Design.

"You enter and you see the Panther costumes, and then you go to another level and you see Selma," she says.

You will see pieces from "Do the Right Thing," "Amistad," "Coming 2 America," and, for the first time ever, "Sinners."

"You will see LeBron James' suit from his video game, and you have Eddie Murphy and Michael B Jordan," she says.

Seeing the costumes close up is a different way to feel close to the characters.

"It's a way of reconnecting with some of the films that you loved," Carter says. "Seeing the costumes up close, you actually see more to the story. It's a different form of viewing. The lens is your eye, and your eye can take in a whole lot more than what you experience on the big screen."