Sandy Powell (costume designer)
Sandy Powell is a British costume designer. She has received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Film Awards, and two Costume Designers Guild Awards. She has been honored with the CDG Career Achievement Award in 2010 and the BAFTA Fellowship in 2023. Powell was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2025.
Powell frequently collaborated with directors Derek Jarman, Neil Jordan, Todd Haynes and Martin Scorsese. She has received 15 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and has won three times for Shakespeare in Love, The Aviator, and The Young Victoria. She has also been nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design a record 16 times and had three wins for Velvet Goldmine, The Young Victoria, and The Favourite.
Early life and education
Powell was born in London in 1960, and grew up in Brixton and Clapham. Her father worked in casinos, while her mother was a secretary. In 2023, Powell said in an interview with fashion journalist Suzy Menkes that, despite their close friendship, she was not related to fellow costume designer Anthony Powell. Information about them being cousins has falsely spread online. Powell learned to sew from her mother on a Singer sewing machine, drew pictures of clothes, designed and made outfits for her dolls, and started making her own clothes from a young age. She also developed an interest in film and theatre from an early age.Powell attended Sydenham High School, and in 1978 she completed an art foundation course at Saint Martin's School of Art, where she became acquainted with Lea Anderson, who later became a dancer and choreographer as well as Powell's collaborator. In 1979, Powell began a BA in theatre design at the Central School of Art and Design, but left after two years before completing her degree and started working for fringe theatre companies.
Career
1980–1997: Early work
After leaving Central, Powell began a working relationship with dancer and choreographer Lindsay Kemp, whom she greatly admired. She designed costumes for his productions, the first of which was the show Nijinsky at La Scala in Milan. In the early 1980s, Powell became acquainted with filmmaker Derek Jarman, who became a mentor and an influential figure in her life. Following Jarman's advice, she spent a year working on music videos. She made her entry into the film industry in 1986, designing costumes for the Jarman film Caravaggio.In 1992, Powell achieved prominence in the period drama film Orlando, directed by Sally Potter. Operating on a limited budget, Powell created elaborate costumes for the gender-switching and time-traveling protagonist, for which she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design. Powell also began a collaboration with director Neil Jordan, which would produce a total of six films including the crime thriller The Crying Game, the gothic horror film Interview with the Vampire and the period drama Michael Collins.
1998–2017: Breakthrough
Powell received dual nominations at the 71st Academy Awards for her two 1998 films, Velvet Goldmine and Shakespeare in Love. Echoing the contemporary tone of Shakespeare in Love, Powell opted to sacrifice historical accuracy in her costume designs but still managed to achieve "emotional accuracy", according to Salon critic Stephanie Zacharek. The detail on the costumes of Gwyneth Paltrow's Viola and the thematic significance of her costume changes were also noted as highlights of the film. For her work in the film, Powell won her first Academy Award for Best Costume Design.Following her win at the 71st Academy Awards, Powell began her collaboration with director Martin Scorsese, starting with his 2002 epic period drama film Gangs of New York, for which she earned her 5th Oscar nomination. The two reunited for the 2004 biographical drama film The Aviator, for which Powell won her second Academy Award. Powell accepted her Oscar while wearing a dress made by her frequent collaborator, the costume cutter Annie Hadley, which was a version of a dress worn by Cate Blanchett in the film.
In 2005 she worked on Stephen Frears' Mrs Henderson Presents earning another Academy Award nomination. She worked on Scorsese gain this time for a film set in modern-day creating current day clothing for the Boston crime drama The Departed starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson. She then worked on the historical romantic drama The Other Boleyn Girl which was based on 2001 novel of the same name by Philippa Gregory. The film was directed by Justin Chadwick and starred Scarlett Johansson, Natalie Portman, and Eric Bana.
In 2009, She worked on the romantic period drama The Young Victoria directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. The film starred Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria, and the film revolves around her upbringing and romance with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha portrayed by Rupert Friend. She won her third Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and a BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design for her work on the film. The following year she worked on Scorsese's psychological thriller Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Julie Taymor's The Tempest with Helen Mirren. In 2011 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design her work on Scorsese's children's action adventure film Hugo losing to Mark Bridges for The Artist.
In 2016, Powell received her second dual nominations at the 88th Academy Awards, having been recognized for her works in Kenneth Branagh's Disney live-action adaptation of Cinderella and for Todd Haynes' romantic drama Carol. The later was based on the Patricia Highsmith novel The Price of Salt. The film starred Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as starcrossed lovers in the 1950s. She reunited with Haynes for the black and white film Wonderstruck starring Julianne Moore and Michelle Williams, based on the 2011 novel of the same name by Brian Selznick. She also served as an executive producer on the film. That same year, she worked on the John Cameron Mitchell's wacky science fiction romantic comedy How to Talk to Girls at Parties.
2018–present
In 2019, Powell garnered her third dual nominations at the 91st Academy Awards for her works in Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite and Rob Marshall's Mary Poppins Returns, making her the most nominated costume designer in Academy Awards history after Edith Head. In 2020, Powell received her 15th Oscar nomination in her seventh collaboration with Martin Scorsese in his epic crime film The Irishman starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. She shared the nomination with her co-designer, Christopher Peterson.In the same year, Powell collected many stars' signatures on a cream calico suit in a widely publicized tour of 2020 awards ceremonies, including the 92nd Academy Awards and 73rd British Academy Film Awards, to be auctioned to raise funds for the preservation of director Derek Jarman's home, Prospect Cottage. She also did the costume design for the British drama Living starring Bill Nighy and the live action Disney film Snow White starring Rachel Zegler.
Awards and nominations
;Major associationsAcademy Awards
| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
| 1994 | Best Costume Design | Orlando | Nomitated | |
| 1998 | Best Costume Design | The Wings of the Dove | Nomitated | |
| 1999 | Best Costume Design | Shakespeare in Love | Won | |
| 1999 | Best Costume Design | Velvet Goldmine | Nomitated | |
| 2003 | Best Costume Design | Gangs of New York | Nomitated | |
| 2005 | Best Costume Design | The Aviator | Won | |
| 2006 | Best Costume Design | Mrs Henderson Presents | Nomitated | |
| 2010 | Best Costume Design | The Young Victoria | Won | |
| 2011 | Best Costume Design | The Tempest | Nomitated | |
| 2012 | Best Costume Design | Hugo | Nomitated | |
| 2016 | Best Costume Design | Carol | Nomitated | |
| 2016 | Best Costume Design | Cinderella | Nomitated | |
| 2019 | Best Costume Design | The Favourite | Nomitated | |
| 2019 | Best Costume Design | Mary Poppins Returns | Nomitated | |
| 2020 | Best Costume Design | The Irishman | Nomitated |
BAFTA Awards
;Miscellaneous awards
;Honorary degrees
| School | Year | Degree | |
| University of the Arts London | 2018 | Honorary Fellow |
Other honours
- Powell was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to the film industry. She was promoted to Commander in the 2025 New Year Honours for services to costume design.
- Powell was made a Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society of Arts in 2013.