‘Blonde’ costume designer Jennifer Johnson to receive Golden Key Award from Key West Film Festival (Exclusive)

The Key West Film Festival announced today the recipient of its seventh annual Golden Key for Excellence in Costume Design, honoring BAFTA nominated costume designer Jennifer Johnson. The 2022 edition of the festival runs November 16-20.

Johnson’s most recent artistry can currently be seen in Andrew Dominik’s Blonde (Netflix) starring Ana de Armas as Marilyn Monroe.

As part of the honor, Johnson will participate in a discussion of her work, to be moderated by Tomris Laffly of Variety. Ms. Johnson will accept her award in person at the festival, which will feature a pre-recorded presentation by Oscar nominated Costume Designer, Dr. Deborah Nadoolman Landis. 

Costume Designer Jennifer Johnson received the 2018 Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Contemporary Film for her work on I, Tonya (KWFF, 2017), for which she also received a BAFTA Award nomination.

She most recently designed the costumes for Andrew Dominik’s Blonde. Among her additional feature film credits are Miranda July’s Kajillionaire, Mike Mills’ 20th Century Women (KWFF, 2016) and Beginners as well as David Slade’s Hard Candy, Chloe Sevigny’s directorial debut short film Kitty and Yorgos Lanthimos short film Nimic. For television, Johnson designed costumes for director Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2018 series Too Old To Die Young.

A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Johnson also has collaborated on commercials and/or music videos with directors such as Spike Jonze, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris, Terrence Malick and John Hillcoat, among others. Her advertising and editorial clients include Nike, Mui Mui, Mercedes, Apple, Purple Fashion, I-D, Vogue, VICE and New York Times. A native of New Mexico, Johnson was born in Taos and raised in Las Cruces. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Dr. Landis, a former Costume Design Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and an Academy Award-nominee, presented the first annual Golden Key for costume design in 2016 to Mary Zophres, who went on to receive an Oscar nomination for her work in La La Land, and to the last five year’s honorees: Mark Bridges, who won the 2018 Oscar for Best Costume Design for The Phantom Thread; and Alexandra Byrne, who’s work in Mary Queen of Scots was recognized by an Academy Award nomination; Arianne Phillips, nominated for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood; Francine Jamison-Tanchuck for  her artistry in Regina King’s One Night in Miami; and Paul Tazewell, whose costume design of West Side Story garnered him an Oscar nomination as well.

Michael Tuckman, Director of Programming of the Key West Film Festival, commented “What makes ‘Blonde’ such an enthralling movie is the artistry of the costume design that Jennifer Johnson creates, allowing the actors to truly embrace and develop their characters. She has been doing this at the highest level for two decades now, as audiences at the Key West Film Festival have seen in official selections that featured her work previously like ‘I, Tonya’ and ’20^th Century Women.’ We are so honored that she will be able to join us and share the wisdom behind her craft with festival-goers.”

Johnson joins previously announced honorees Chris Cooper and Elegance Bratton, who will receive Golden Key Awards. The 2022 edition of the festival runs November 16-20.