Who is Paul Tazewell? Everything to know as Wicked costumer makes history as the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Costume Design

Paul Tazewell, the Wicked costumer, won his first Oscar at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday. He became the first Black male to win Best Costume Design. According to Variety's report, Ruth E. Carter made Oscar history as the first Black person to win in the costume design category. Ruth E. Carter won an Oscar in 2018 for her work in Black Panther.

Paul Tazewell attended the North Carolina School of the Arts and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. The 60-year-old designer has worked for Broadway, films, and television.

In 2016, Paul Tazewell won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design in a Musical for Hamilton. In 2018, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for The Wiz Live! In 2025, he won a British Academy Film Award (BAFTA), a Critics Choice Award for Wicked, and an Oscar.

While accepting the Oscar, Paul Tazewell thanked the Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. He also thanked his team in the UK, who worked alongside him. He said:

"This is absolutely astounding. Thank you, Academy, for this very significant honor. I am the first Black man to receive the costume design award for my work on ‘Wicked.’ I’m so proud of this. Thank you everyone in the UK for all of your beautiful work. I could not have done this without you. My Ozian muses, Cynthia and Ariana, I love you so much."

The acceptance speech was uploaded on X by the user @DiscussingFilm.

According to AOL, Paul Tazewell spoke to reporters after his Oscar win. The designer shared that he didn't have a male Black designer to look up to, and with this Oscar win, he became that person. Calling the win his "Wizard of Oz" moment, he said,

"The whole way through, there was never a Black male designer that I saw that I could follow, that I could see as inspiration, to realize that... that’s actually me, it becomes a ‘Wizard of Oz’ moment."

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More details on Paul Tazewell's work in Wicked

97th Annual Oscars - Show - Image via Getty

In an interview with The Talks in January 2025, Tazewell explained how he created the costumes in Wicked. He said that while creating Elphaba's costumes, he purposely drew inspiration and references from nature.

Tazewell shared that the natural elements in her clothing align with her personality. He said:

"Texture and choice of fabrics are of course also reflective of the characters. With Wicked, I used a lot of references to nature: mushrooms, ferns and fungus in the forest, trees and bark, things like that felt aligned with the character of Elphaba, because of her reserve and groundedness, and also aligned with her advocation for animals."

Paul Tazewell was inspired by Glinda's iconic pink dress from the 1939 film. He wanted to make her costumes appear whimsical, so he added airy fabric and beading.

"All her costumes and fabrics were airy and in flight and whimsical, there was bubbles and beading and iridescence and a swirl in the clothing. There’s also inspiration in the 1939 Wizard of Oz film that goes back to the color story we’ve been talking about: the pink dress that Glinda arrives in in the 1939 film, that’s another iconic piece," he said.

In the same interview, the 60-year-old designer shared that he was reserved at the beginning of his career and never made suggestions.

"Early on, because I tend to be kind of shy, I didn't allow my voice to really be heard in the way that it could be. On my first jobs, I didn't make suggestions, I didn’t give my point of view, I didn't choose to share a lot," he said.

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According to IMDb, Paul Tazewell has worked on the sequel of Wicked, Wicked: For Good. It will be released in theatres on November 21, 2025.