Some fortuitous few are frequently described as having “A Year,” and in 2023 Ruth Carter is absolutely having hers, though it’s hardly just luck. This March she won the Academy Award for Fashion Design and became the first Black woman to receive multiple Oscars. On April 1, the North Carolina Museum of Art presented Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design, showcasing over 60 garments she’s made for television and cinema over 30-odd years, and on May 23, Chronicle Books released The Art of Ruth E. Carter: Costuming Black History and the Afrofuture from Do the Right Thing to Black Panther.