Jenny Beavan

Beavan was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2017. Beavan came to prominence for her decade-long collaboration with John Bright on creating the costumes for Merchant Ivory Productions. She has received 12 nominations for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and has won three times for A Room with a View (1985), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), and Cruella (2021). She has also been nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design ten times and had a record four wins for A Room With a View, Gosford Park (2001), Mad Max: Fury Road, and Cruella. On television, Beavan has been nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special five times, winning twice for Emma (1996) and Return to Cranford (2010). She has also received three nominations for the British Academy Television Craft Award for Best Costume Design. On stage, Beavan created costumes for various Royal Shakespeare Company, West End, and Broadway productions. She won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Costume Design for the West End revival of the Noël Coward play Private Lives in 2001, and she received the Tony Award for Best Costume Design nomination the following year when the production was transferred to Broadway.

Jenny Beavan studied at Central School of Art and Design and Putney High School. The recorded working language is English. Distinctions recorded are Emmy Award, Academy Award for Best Costume Design and Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

• Name — Jenny Beavan • Honorific Suffix — OBE • Born — 15 November 1950 • Birthplace — London, England • Occupation — Costume designer • Children — 1 • Years Active — 1978 — present

Beavan was born in London, England. Her father was a cellist, and her mother a viola player. She has a sister. Beavan credits her parents for instilling a strong work ethic. At the age of ten, Beavan's grandfather took her to a showing of the play Twelfth Night and from that moment on she knew she had to be involved in theater in some type of way. She attended Putney High School, an independent girls' day school in Putney, London. For college, she attended the Central School of Art and Design (currently Central St. Martin's), and under the teachings of Ralph Koltai she studied stage design. Despite being taught that costuming was "insignificant," she began to love the craft.

Jenny Beavan is known for her work on Merchant Ivory films. In the 1970s, she worked on set design for London theatrical productions. She joined the field of film costume design after obtaining an unpaid position to design garments for a small Merchant Ivory film, Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures. Beavan was assistant to Judy Moorcroft on the 1979 film The Europeans, the first 'proper' Merchant-Ivory film that featured precise and authentic period costuming. This began her long relationship with Merchant Ivory productions. She has frequently worked with costume designer John Bright, who runs the costume-rental house Cosprop, and credits him with educating her as she was starting out her career. She said she was helped by "just listening to him and learning from him, learning the history and the politics of clothing". Since then, the two have collaborated on more than ten films together and have shared six Oscar nominations. The process of designing is standard, but every designer has their own process. Beavans design process begins with breaking down scripts and reviewing until they are known like the back of her hand, developing an understanding of each character. A costume is the second skin of an actor. For Beavan it all starts from the script and the character as she says she's "creating the person who's wearing the clothes." • Illustration — Detail of the costume worn by Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, designed by Beavan. In 2016, Beavan won her 3rd BAFTA and 2nd Academy Award in George Miller's post-apocalyptic action film Mad Max: Fury Road. Beavan was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to drama production. In June 2018, Beavan was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by Arts University Bournemouth alongside dancer Darcey Bussell, graphic designer Margaret Calvert, OBE, and director and screenwriter Edgar Wright. In 2022, Beavan nabbed her 4th BAFTA, as well as her 3rd Academy Award for Craig Gillespie's Disney live-action spin-off of Cruella.

She has one daughter, Caitlin, a theatre producer born in 1985. They worked together on the West End theatre production of Third Finger Left Hand at Trafalgar Studios in 2013.

• Year — Title — Notes • 1978 — Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures — with Purnima Agarwal Also makes a cameo as Governess Television film • 1980 — Holding the Fort — Episode: "Over a Barrel" • 1981 — A Fine Romance — 6 episodes • 1986 — Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy — 6 episodes • 1989 — Back Home — Television film • 1992 — The Blackheath Poisonings — 3 episodes • 1996 — Emma — Television film • 2002 — The Gathering Storm • 2003 — Byron — 2 episodes • 2007 — Cranford — 5 episodes • 2009 — Return to Cranford — 2 episodes • 2015 — Esio Trot — Television film

• Major associations Academy Awards • Year — Category — Nominated work — Result — Ref. • 1985 — Best Costume Design — The Bostonians • 1987 — A Room with a View • 1988 — Maurice • 1993 — Howards End • 1994 — The Remains of the Day • 1996 — Sense and Sensibility • 2000 — Anna and the King • 2002 — Gosford Park • 2011 — The King's Speech • 2016 — Mad Max: Fury Road • 2022 — Cruella • 2023 — Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris BAFTA Awards • Year — Category — Nominated work — Result — Ref. • British Academy Film Awards • 1985 — Best Costume Design — The Bostonians • 1987 — A Room with a View • 1993 — Howards End • 1996 — Sense and Sensibility • 2000 — Tea with Mussolini • 2002 — Gosford Park • 2011 — The King's Speech • 2016 — Mad Max: Fury Road • 2022 — Cruella • 2023 — Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris • British Academy Television Craft Awards • 2003 — Best Costume Design — The Gathering Storm • 2008 — Cranford • 2010 — Return to Cranford Emmy Awards • Year — Category — Nominated work — Result — Ref. • Primetime Emmy Awards • 1986 — Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie, or Special — Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy (Episode: "Part 1") • 1997 — Emma • 2002 — The Gathering Storm • 2008 — Cranford (Episode: "Part 1") • 2010 — Return to Cranford (Episode: "Part 2") Laurence Olivier Awards • Year — Category — Nominated work — Result — Ref. • 2002 — Best Costume Design — Private Lives Tony Awards • Year — Category — Nominated work — Result — Ref. • 2002 — Best Costume Design — Private Lives • Miscellaneous awards List of Jenny Beavan other awards and nominations • Award — Year — Category — Title — Result — Ref. • AACTA Awards — 2015 — Best Costume Design — Mad Max: Fury Road • 2025 — Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga • Africa Movie Academy Awards — 2007 — Best Costume Design — The Amazing Grace • American Cinematheque's Tribute to the Crafts — 2022 — Costume Designer – Feature Film — Cruella • Astra Film and Creative Arts Awards — 2022 — Best Costume Design • 2023 — Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris • 2024 — Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga • British Independent Film Awards — 2022 — Best Costume Design — Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris • Camerimage — 2023 — Costume Designer with Unique Visual Sensitivity • Chicago Film Critics Association Awards — 2021 — Best Costume Design — Cruella • 2024 — Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga • Ciak d'oro — 1999 — Best Costume Design — Tea with Mussolini • Costume Designers Guild Awards — 2009 — Outstanding Made for Television Movie or Miniseries — Cranford • 2010 — Excellence in Period Film — Sherlock Holmes • 2011 — The King's Speech • 2016 — Excellence in Fantasy Film — Mad Max: Fury Road • 2019 — Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film — The Nutcracker and the Four Realms • 2021 — Dolittle • 2022 — Excellence in Period Film — Cruella • 2023 — Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris • 2025 — Excellence in Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film — Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga • Career Achievement Award • Critics' Choice Awards — 2011 — Best Costume Design — The King's Speech • 2016 — Mad Max: Fury Road • 2022 — Cruella • David di Donatello Awards — 1996 — Best Costumes — Jane Eyre • Drama Desk Awards — 2002 — Outstanding Costume Design — Private Lives • Empire Awards — 2016 — Best Costume Design — Mad Max: Fury Road • Evening Standard British Film Awards — 2011 — Technical Achievement Award — The King's Speech • Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards — 2010 — Best Costume Design • 2015 — Mad Max: Fury Road • 2021 — Cruella • 2024 — Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga • London Film Critics' Circle Awards — 2022 — Technical Achievement Award — Cruella • Online Film Critics Society Awards — 2022 — Best Costume Design • 2025 — Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga • Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards — 2002 — Best Costume Design — Gosford Park • 2010 — The King's Speech • 2015 — Mad Max: Fury Road • Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards — 2004 — Best Costume Design – Drama — Byron • San Diego Film Critics Society Awards — 2022 — Best Costume Design — Cruella • 2023 — Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris • Satellite Awards — 1999 — Best Costume Design — Ever After • 2000 — Anna and the King • 2006 — The Black Dahlia • 2007 — Amazing Grace • 2010 — The King's Speech • Saturn Awards — 1999 — Best Costume Design — Ever After • 2010 — Sherlock Holmes • 2012 — Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows • 2022 — Cruella • Seattle Film Critics Society Awards — 2016 — Best Costume Design — Mad Max: Fury Road • 2022 — Cruella • 2024 — Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga • St. Louis Film Critics Association Awards — 2021 — Best Costume Design — Cruella • 2022 — Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris • Honorary degrees Name of school, year given, and name of degree • School — Year — Degree — Ref. References • Arts University Bournemouth — 2018 — Honorary Fellow • Girls' Day School Trust — 2016 — Alumna of the Year • Rose Bruford College — 2011 — Honorary Fellow • University of Huddersfield — 2024 — Doctor of the University (Hon DUniv)

• Beavan was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to drama production. • Beavan was made a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) by the Royal Society of Arts in 2022.