**Oscar Nomination for Costume Design in “Avatar: Fire and Ash” Highlights the Art Behind Digital Costumes**
*LOS ANGELES* — The Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design for *Avatar: Fire and Ash* has surprised some, given the film’s heavy reliance on visual effects. However, don’t be fooled— the digital costumes seen on screen began as real, handcrafted creations.
When watching James Cameron’s epic, you might not realize that every costume worn by a digital character started as an actual physical costume. Costume designer Deborah L. Scott, now an Oscar nominee for her work on the film, sheds light on this unique process.
Pennacchio noted, “The question you’ve answered 100 times is the idea of what the costumes are, because it’s not typical of what’s nominated in this category.”
Scott explained, “A costume designer getting to work really closely with the visual effects team is amazing. We make all the costumes in real life before we transfer them to the visual effects team, to recreate them for the screen.”
She emphasized that the work goes beyond just making a garment: “It’s about how it fits the character, how it moves, and the elements of the environment around them. It’s really, really complicated. It’s really extreme.”
Reflecting on her early beginnings, Scott shared, “I think we all started off probably playing dress-up. I learned to sew really young. The first thing I sewed was a puppet—I had to make the head and then the body. And I still have it.”
She also cherished a memorable piece from a classic film, recalling, “When I worked on *ET*, ET had to dress up. I had a couple pieces from my kids’ dress-up box, and I brought them to work. So I have ET’s hat, and it’s one of my prize possessions.”
On receiving the Oscar nomination, Scott expressed her joy: “It just has to feel like, I work hard, I’ve worked hard for years. This is a nice moment for me.”
“It was quite a shock because it’s outside the norm. So I wasn’t expecting it,” she added. “I feel very lucky to be in the place that I am.”
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https://abc7.com/post/oscars-2026-why-is-visual-effects-heavy-avatar-fire-ash-nominated-best-costume-design/18700742/