2025 Tony and Oscar winner Paul Tazewell is having a banner year

He becomes the second costume designer ever to win both awards in the same year, for Death Becomes Her on Broadway and Part 1 of the Wicked movie musical.

In March 2025, Paul Tazewell became the first Black man to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design. His work on Part 1 of the Wicked movie musical gave a fresh look to the residents of Oz — an especially commendable feat since the blockbuster Broadway musical's Tony Award-winning costumes have been instantly recognizable for over 20 years.

But Tazewell is nothing if not capable — and versatile, having begun his career on Broadway with 1996's Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk (and earning his first of 10 Tony Award nominations. A few months later, on June 8, he won the Tony for the second time (following 2016's Hamilton) for Death Becomes Her, the musical adaptation of the cult classic Meryl Streep/Goldie Hawn horror comedy. He's now the first costume designer in 73 years, and the second ever, to win an Oscar and a Tony in the same year.

"Yhere's a point of view that designing for musicals asks for, and that's also the case for movies," Tazewell said in the Tony Awards press room following his win. "I happen to be the kind of designer that is able to merge those, I hope, effectively, and some of that is because of my interest in detail and my development of character, and having every decision be informative of who that character is."

That's true no matter what medium he's working in: In Wicked, Glinda's bubblegum pink and Elphaba's striking black ensembles instantly convey them as polar opposites and unlikely friends. Death Becomes Her's Madeline Ashton and Helen Sharp, feuding frenemies who take an eternal youth potion, constantly sport sparkles, ruffles, and loud colors and patterns — an "over-the-top camp drag sensibility," as Tazewell described it — to exemplify the insatiable desire for beauty society has drilled into them. (One dress even has a smoking hole in the middle to recreate an iconic movie moment.)

"I've been doing this for about 35 years, and something about this year and the energy of this year has made me very visible," Tazewell said. "I think I've grown as a designer because of how much I've said yes and how much I've been impacted by the collaborators that I've worked with."

He praised Ann Roth and the late Irene Sharaff as costume designers whose careers spanned stage and screen, and there's no question he's taking his place as an icon among them.

"Being a designer that was seen as a Black designer for shows about people of color, and then to expand into just being a designer and celebrated for design, for beautiful work, that means everything to me, and that's what I've always wanted to work towards," Tazewell said. "I just want to continue to tell those stories and be passionate about doing what I do."

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Top image credit: Paul Tazewell. (Photo courtesy of AJM Public Relation)
In-article image credit: Death Becomes Her on Broadway. (Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman)