Rita McGhee (born August 22, 1964) is an American costume designer for film and television. Her career has included projects spanning various fashion eras. She is known for her work on season 1 of FOX's musical drama series Empire. In July 2015, McGhee's costume design on episode 8, "The Lyon's Roar", was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Costumes for a Contemporary Series, Limited Series, or Movie. The following year, in January 2016, her costume design for the season was nominated for the Costume Designers Guild Award for Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Television Series.

In addition, McGhee has led and/or contributed costume design for projects such as Spike Lee's musical drama film Chi-Raq (2015), BET's miniseries The New Edition Story (2017), Disney's musical film Zombies (2018), and BET's miniseries American Soul (2019).

Early life and education McGhee was born in San Francisco, California to Troy and Claudette McGhee. In 1968, her family relocated to Santa Rita, Guam when her father accepted a civil service position on the island. She has four siblings.

McGhee graduated from George Washington High School in Mangilao, Guam in 1982 and attended Howard University, studying fashion merchandising and business administration. She also took classes in costume design while working in the school theater, and graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science.

Career After McGhee heard Spike Lee lecture at her college, she sent her resume to costume designer, Ruth E. Carter who was working with Lee's production company, and was hired by Carter as an intern and wardrobe production assistant. She then moved to Los Angeles, California and worked on Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), The Five Heartbeats (1991), and What's Love Got to Do With It (1993) among others. McGhee also worked in the costume and wardrobe departments for In Living Color (1991-1992), Moesha (1996), and Baby Boy (2001).

After becoming a costume designer, McGhee worked on Reggie Rock Bythewood's Biker Boyz (2003), Jeffrey W. Byrd's King's Ransom (2005), and Benny Boom's Next Day Air (2009). She then took a break from Hollywood and relocated to Friendswood, Texas.

McGhee later interviewed for the costume designer position for Lee Daniels and Danny Strong's television series Empire. She accepted the job offer and relocated to Chicago, Illinois for filming. In March 2015, her costume design for Empire was referred to as the "hip-hop royalty look" by the Los Angeles Times. In July 2015, her work on the season 1 episode, "The Lyon's Roar", was nominated for an Emmy. The episode featured a "White Party" scene where the cast dressed in all white clothing. McGhee and her team launched Cookie's Closet, a website page featuring styles worn by Empire actress, Taraji P. Henson. In September 2015, Saks Fifth Avenue launched a curated fashion collection inspired by the show.

McGhee did not return for season 2 of Empire. She worked on the film Chi-Raq with Ruth E. Carter as lead costume designer. McGhee later provided costume design for The New Edition Story with clothing choices described as a "virtuosic symphony" by The New York Times. She continued to work on projects including Lifetime's Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland (2017) and ABC's The Mayor (2017).

McGhee is a member of the Black Design Collective, a non-profit organization for African-American fashion designers and costume designers. She is also a member of the Costume Designers Guild.

Filmography Year Title Role Refs 1990 Mo' Better Blues Production assistant 1991 Jungle Fever Wardrobe assistant 1991 The Five Heartbeats Assistant costumer 1993 What's Love Got to Do With It On set costumer 1993 Fear of a Black Hat Costume design 2001 Baby Boy Wardrobe supervisor 2002 Book of Love: The Definitive Reason Why Men Are Dogs Costume designer 2003 Biker Boyz Costume designer 2004 Woman Thou Art Loosed Costumes 2005 King's Ransom Costume designer 2007 All About Us Costume designer Press 2009 Next Day Air Costume designer 2009 My Brother's Keeper Costume designer Press 2015 Chi-Raq Assistant costume designer 2017 Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland Costume designer 2018 Zombies Costume designer 2018 Life-Size 2 Costumes Press

Television Year Title Crew role Refs 1991-1992 In Living Color Costume assistant 1993-1994 Martin Costume supervisor Press 1996 Moesha Costumes 1997 Between Brothers Costumes 1997 Claude's Crib Costumes Press 1999 Grown Ups Costumes Press 2000 The Lyricist Lounge Show Costume designer Press 2003 Eve Costumes (pilot episode) Press 2005-2006 Cuts Costume designer 2010 Fake It Til You Make It Costume designer 2010Love That Girl! Costume designer Press 2011 Reed Between the Lines Costume designer 2012 Let's Stay Together Costume designer 2012 Sunday Best Stylist 2013 Second Generation Wayans Costume designer Press 2015 Empire Costume designer (season 1) 2016 Zoe Ever After Costume designer 2017 The New Edition Story Costume designer 2017 The Mayor Costume designer 2018 The Bobby Brown Story Costume designer 2019 American Soul Costume designer 2019 Loved to Death Costumes Press

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