Costumes, Coffins and Creative Arts Emmys: The 2026 Winners Behind the Wardrobe
A coffin-inspired suit and a country club wardrobe walked away with Creative Arts Emmy trophies this past weekend, as the Television Academy handed out its 2026 awards across three nights — September 5, 6, and the upcoming primetime ceremony on September 14.
Six costume design teams won across five costume categories at the 2026 Creative Arts Emmys, according to a Hollywood Reporter feature published on September 8. The wins spread across streaming, broadcast, and cable — a reminder that the costume branch does not favour one platform over another.
Olga Mill won for her work on Netflix's "Beef," dressing the series in what the Reporter described as a country club "quiet luxury" style — understated clothes that signal wealth through cut and fabric rather than logos. On the reality side, Steven Lee and his team won for Fox's "The Masked Singer," sharing the outstanding costumes for variety, nonfiction or reality programming award with Peacock's "The Traitors."
That shared category is one of four juried awards at the Creative Arts Emmys — meaning a panel of peers judges the work directly, and the category often splits between multiple winners. Sam Spector and Riki Finlay took the trophy for season four of "The Traitors."
One of Spector's standout pieces for the season was a head-to-toe black look worn by host Alan Cumming, inspired by a coffin. Spector custom-made the outfit and called it one of his favourites so far, the Reporter noted. Actor Jonathan Bennett liked it enough to wear the same coffin look while hosting the GLAAD Media Awards in March.
"The Traitors" had a strong weekend beyond costumes. It won six Creative Arts Emmys in total, including a trophy for Alan Cumming, according to GoldDerby's winners list published September 6. One unnamed show led the weekend with seven trophies, GoldDerby reported, putting "The Traitors" in second place. The series is now set to compete for outstanding reality competition program at the September 14 primetime ceremony — a category it has won in both 2024 and 2025.
On the scripted side, Alix Friedberg and Leigh Bell won the outstanding period costumes Emmy for Apple TV+'s "Palm Royale," a 1960s-set series that picked up three Creative Arts trophies in total — for production design, choreography, and makeup as well, per Deadline's winners list. Tricia Sawyer won the makeup award as department head makeup artist for the episode "Maxine Drinks Martinis Now," Variety reported.
The weekend's other multi-trophy winners included "Beef," "Margo's Got Money Troubles," and "Pluribus," which won four, according to Variety and GoldDerby. "Bridgerton" and "Fallout" each took two. TVLine also reported wins for "The Pitt," "Paradise," and "DTF St. Louis."
The Reporter also noted the long road some designers walk to an Emmy. Janie Bryant received five nominations for her work on "Mad Men" without a win — though she did take home the outstanding costumes Emmy for HBO's "Deadwood" in 2005.
The 78th Emmy Awards wrap up on September 14, when Mariska Hargitay hosts the live broadcast on NBC from the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE.
