This morning (December 12th, 2025), the Costume Designers Guild officially unveiled the nominees for the 28th Costume Designers Guild Awards (2026), honoring another remarkable year of achievement in film, television, short-form design, and costume illustration. The annual ceremony will return to The Ebell of Los Angeles on Thursday, February 12th, 2026, where winners in the nine competitive categories will be announced live.
As awards season takes shape, several standout films on the CDGA list are already emerging as potential Academy Award contenders. Among the most closely watched this year are Frankenstein (Kate Hawley), Sinners (Ruth E. Carter), One Battle After Another (Colleen Atwood), Hamnet (Malgosia Turzanska), Avatar: Fire and Ash (Deborah L. Scott), and Wicked: For Good (Paul Tazewell); a lineup of powerhouse designers whose work has defined the year’s cinematic landscape through bold vision and meticulous craft.
This year’s nominations also spotlight an exciting wave of multiple-category nominees, reflecting both the range and consistency of several designers’ work:
- Lindsay Pugh earned nominations for Hedda and How to Train Your Dragon.
- Alix Friedberg is recognized twice: once for Tron: Ares (co–costume designer with Christine Bieselin Clark) and again for Palm Royale (co–costume designer with Leigh Bell).
- Steven Norman Lee is a double nominee for his imaginative work on Dancing with the Stars and The Masked Singer.
- Oksana Nedavniaya received dual recognition in Costume Illustration, nominated for Weapons (designed by Trish Summerville) and Palm Royale.
And in one of this year’s most significant achievements, Colleen Atwood secured three nominations. Atwood was recognized for her feature work on One Battle After Another, for co–costume design on Wednesday Season Two alongside Mark Sutherland, and for Excellence in Short Form Design for the music video Lady Gaga: The Dead Dance. A testament to her creativity and enduring influence, Atwood’s nominations span three distinct categories, each showcasing a different dimension of her artistry.
The CDGA will announce the 2026 ceremony host, presenters, and additional honorees in the weeks ahead. As always, The Art of Costume will be following closely with deeper coverage, designer spotlights, and category breakdowns. Stay tuned—awards season has officially begun.
The complete list of CDGA nominees is available below.
Excellence in Contemporary Film
● Bugonia – Jennifer Johnson
● F1® The Movie – Julian Day
● One Battle After Another – Colleen Atwood
● Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery – Jenny Eagan
● Weapons – Trish Summerville
Excellence in Period Film
● Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale – Anna Mary Scott Robbins
● Frankenstein – Kate Hawley
● Hamnet – Malgosia Turzanska
● Hedda – Lindsay Pugh
● Sinners – Ruth E. Carter
Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film
● Avatar: Fire and Ash – Deborah L. Scott
● How To Train Your Dragon – Lindsay Pugh
● Thunderbolts* – Sanja Milkovic Hays
● TRON: Ares – Christine Bieselin Clark & Alix Friedberg
● Wicked: For Good – Paul Tazewell
Excellence in Contemporary Television
● Emily in Paris – Veni, Vidi, Venezia – Marylin Fitoussi
● Hacks – Heaven – Kathleen Felix-Hager
● The Righteous Gemstones – You Hurled Me Into the Depths, Into the Very Heart of the Seas – Christina Flannery
● The Studio – CinemaCon – Kameron Lennox
● Wednesday – Woe Me The Money – Colleen Atwood & Mark Sutherland
Excellence in Period Television
● 1923 – A Dream and a Memory – Janie Bryant & Gaby Acosta
● Chief of War – City of Flowers – Caroline Eselin-Schaefer
● House of Guinness – Episode 4 – Edward K. Gibbon
● Palm Royale – Maxine Is Ready to Single Mingle – Alix Friedberg & Leigh Bell
● The Gilded Age – Marriage Is a Gamble – Kasia Walicka Maimone
Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Television
● Andor – Harvest – Michael Wilkinson
● Black Mirror – USS Callister: Into Infinity – Matthew Price
● Murderbot – FreeCommerce – Carrie Grace & Laura Jean Shannon,
● The Wheel of Time – He Who Comes With The Dawn – Sharon Gilham
● The Witcher – Baptism of Fire – Lucinda Wright
Excellence in Variety, Reality-Competition, Live Television
● Dancing with the Stars – Premiere – Steven Norman Lee & Daniela Gschwendtner
● Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special – Tom Broecker, Cristina Natividad & Ashley Dudek
● The Masked Singer – The Lucky 6: Merging of the Masks – Steven Norman Lee & Luke D’Alessandro
● The Traitors – Til Death Us Do Part – Sam Spector & Rikki Finlay
● Wicked: One Wonderful Night – Katja Cahill
Excellence in Short Form Design
● Someday, by Spike Jonze: AirPods 4 – Kym Barrett
● Dandyland: Episode 10 – Rafaella Rabinovich
● Lady Gaga: The Dead Dance (Music Video) – Colleen Atwood
● Batman vs. Bateman: State Farm® – Anette Cseri
● Uber Eats: A Century of Cravings – Super Bowl – Michelle Martini
Excellence in Costume Illustration
● On Swift Horses – Eduardo Lucero
● Palm Royale – Oksana Nedavniaya
● Sinners – Felipe Sanchez
● Weapons – Oksana Nedavniaya
