Costume designer Sandy Powell has become a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). Powell, 64, is one of the most celebrated designers in the film industry with three Academy Awards and three Baftas to her name. She is mentioned in the New Year Honours list for her service to costume design.
Powell cemented her star status in the film industry when she became the first costume designer to receive the Bafta Fellowship in 2023 – the highest recognition given in the UK for exceptional contributions to the film industry. Other recipients have included Martin Scorsese and Dame Helen Mirren. From her sumptuous realist looks for Shakespeare In Love to reviving Mary Poppins in 2019 in the film Mary Poppins Returns, Powell has worked with modern cinema’s greatest talents.
Having dressed actors from Leonardo DiCaprio to Dame Judie Dench, Powell has helped directors such as Scorsese and Todd Haynes bring their cinematic visions to life. “80% of the job is psychology and only 20% art, you have to figure out how to make people feel safe, because dressing them is a very intimate act,” Powell told the Financial Review in 2023. “They have to feel that in your hands they will find their character.
” Powell grew up in Brixton and Clapham in south London. Holding no relation to the late costume designer Anthony Powell, Powell was taught to sew by her mother, while her father entertained her with tales of the characters from the casino where he worked. When she was 19, Pow.