The costume design for Joan of Arc (1948) holds the distinction of receiving the inaugural Academy Award for Best Costume Design, which was first presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1948. Dorothy Jeakins shared the award with co-designer Barbara Karinska for the medieval epic. Jeakins was a freelance costume designer, never under contract to a major Hollywood studio. During her career she worked in every different film genre from historical epics such as Samson and Delilah (1949), to musicals including South Pacific (1958) and The Sound of Music (1965). Jeakins received twelve nominations and two Academy Awards for her design work. She describes how she worked ‘after I study a script, I spread out my art supplies, pencil and paper and water colours. I’ll let my imagination work for me, seeing a character as a person I might know’.

The British Film Institute (BFI) acquired its costume collection for display at the Museum of the Moving Image, which existed on the South Bank in London between 1988 and 1999. The collection is made up of British, European, American and Japanese films and covers the period from the silent film era to the mid-1990s. It contains a wealth of historic and significant film costumes worn by major performers and designed by some of the 20th century’s most important film costume designers. The collection was transferred to the V&A in 2015.