Bob Mackie, the ‘Sultan of Sequins’, dies at 87

Bob Mackie dies at 87

Bob Mackie, the Emmy‑ and Tony‑winning costume and fashion designer, died on September 14, 2026, at the age of 87, according to a statement posted on his social‑media accounts. The announcement read, “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news that Mr. Bob Mackie passed away today. He lived his 87 years to the fullest, fulfilling his dream of being a fashion and costume designer.” No cause of death has been released.

Early life and training

Born Robert Gordon Mackie on March 24, 1939, in Monterey Park, California, Mackie split his childhood between his grandparents’ home in Alhambra and his father’s house in Rosemead after his parents divorced. He attended Pasadena City College and spent a year at the Chouinard Art Institute before leaving to sketch for Paramount Studios. In 1961, legendary costumer Edith Head discovered him, later saying she taught him “how to navigate producers, directors, and actors.”

Defining collaborations

Mackie’s breakthrough came with a partnership that lasted five decades: designing for Mitzi Gaynor’s television specials beginning in 1966, a collaboration that earned him two Emmy awards. His most iconic work arrived with Carol Burnett, for whom he created every costume on The Carol Burnett Show, an estimated 17,000 outfits, including the famed “Went with the Wind” gown now in the Smithsonian. Burnett later said, “There are fashion designers, but they can’t do costumes… And then there are costume designers that don’t do fashion. But Bob does it all. He’s the whole ball of wax.”

Mackie also became synonymous with Cher, crafting the feather‑filled, sequined looks that defined her concerts and award‑show appearances – the feathered Mohawk headdress from the 1986 Oscars remains a pop‑culture touchstone. Other stars dressed by Mackie include Elton John, Diana Ross, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Madonna and Beyoncé.

Awards and milestones

Over a six‑decade career Mackie amassed nine Primetime Emmy Awards from 32 nominations, a 2019 Tony Award for The Cher Show, and three Academy Award nominations for Lady Sings the Blues, Funny Lady and Pennies from Heaven. In 1990 he began a landmark collaboration with Mattel, designing Barbie fashions and expanding the doll’s ethnic diversity. He entered the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2002 and received the CFDA’s Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award in 2016. RuPaul honoured him with the inaugural Giving Us Life‑time Achievement Award at the RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 finale in 2023. Just months before his death, the Palm Springs Art Museum opened Reflections of Glamour: Bob Mackie.

Personal life

Mackie married singer‑actress Lulu Porter from 1960 to 1963; the couple’s son, Robin, died in 1993. Surviving family includes a granddaughter and two great‑grandchildren discovered later in life through Robin, as detailed in the 2024 documentary Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion.

Bob Mackie’s legacy is more than glitter; it reshaped how costume can be both fashion and narrative, turning stage and screen into spectacles that still inspire designers today.