Michael O'Connor (costume designer)

Michael O'Connor
Michael O'Connor
Born	27 October 1965 (age 58); London, England
Years active	1993–present

Michael O'Connor (born 27 October 1965) is an English costume designer. He has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design three times, winning for The Duchess (2008).

Life and career

O'Connor was born in London, England. He began his training as a dresser at the Old Vic and then spent six years in a costume house before deciding to go freelance.^[1]

In the 1990s, O'Connor went into the film industry. His early works as a wardrobe supervisor was on such films as The House of the Spirits (1993) and Emma (1996). Then he was elevated to an assistant costume designer and worked in this role on several notable films, these include Oscar and Lucinda (1997), Topsy-Turvy (1999), and Quills (2000). In addition, he was an associate costume designer on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).

After working as costume designer on several minor British films, he came to prominence with his work on Tom Brown's Schooldays, a TV movie for ITV. He then worked on his most high-profile film up until then, the film version of Giles Foden's bestselling novel, The Last King of Scotland. He then worked on Brick Lane as well as Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.

He came to the attention of the film industry in 2009, when he received the Academy Award for Best Costume Design,^[2] the BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design^[3] as well as the Satellite Award for Best Costume Design^[4] for The Duchess.

In 2014, he started working on costumes for Tulip Fever.^[5]

In 2021, he was nominated for another BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design for his work on Ammonite.^[6]

Filmography

Year	Title
2001	The Mystic Masseur
2005	Nomad: The Warrior
2006	The Last King of Scotland
2007	Brick Lane
2008	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
2008	The Duchess
2011	The Eagle
2011	Jane Eyre
2012	Dredd
2013	The Invisible Woman
2015	Suite Française
2015	Muhammad: The Messenger of God
2017	Tulip Fever
2018	A Private War
2018	All is True
2020	Ammonite
2021	The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
2022	Emily

Awards and nominations

Major associations

Academy Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2008	Best Costume Design	The Duchess	Won	^[7]
2011		Jane Eyre	Nominated	^[8]
2013		The Invisible Woman	Nominated	^[9]

BAFTA Awards

Year	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
British Academy Film Awards
2008	Best Costume Design	The Duchess	Won	^[10]
2011		Jane Eyre	Nominated	^[11]
2013		The Invisible Woman	Nominated	^[12]
2020		Ammonite	Nominated	^[13]

Miscellaneous awards

List of Michael O'Connor other awards and nominations
Award	Year	Category	Title	Result
British Independent Film Awards	2008	Best Technical Achievement	The Duchess	Nominated (Wardrobe)
	2020	Best Costume Design	Ammonite	Nominated
	2021	Best Costume Design	The Electrical Life of Louis Wain	Nominated
Costume Designers Guild Awards	2008	Excellence in Period Film	The Duchess	Won
Costume Designers Guild Awards	2011	Excellence in Period Film	Jane Eyre	Nominated
Critics' Choice Movie Awards	2011	Best Costume Design	Jane Eyre	Nominated
European Film Awards	2021	Best Costume Designer	Ammonite	Won
Evening Standard British Film Awards	2011	Best Technical Achievement	Jane Eyre	Nominated (Costume Design)
Satellite Awards	2008	Best Costume Design	The Duchess	Won
	2011		Jane Eyre	Nominated
	2013		The Invisible Woman	Won

References

^ The Daily Telegraph
^ "1981". Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 31 March 1981. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 July 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ "Tulip Fever". cathedral.org.uk (Norwich Cathedral). Archived from the original on 16 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
^ "2021 EE British Academy Film Awards: The Nominations". British Academy Film Awards. 9 March 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
^ "81st Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "84th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "86th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "62nd British Academy Film Awards". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "64th British Academy Film Awards". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "67th British Academy Film Awards". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 15 August 2023.
^ "74th British Academy Film Awards". British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). Retrieved 15 August 2023.