Rita McGhee

Rita McGhee (born August 22, 1964) is an American costume designer for film and television. She is known for her work on season 1 of FOX's musical drama series Empire.

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.

McGhee graduated from George Washington High School in Mangilao, Guam in 1982 and attended Howard University, studying fashion merchandising and business administration. 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. 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. In July 2015, her work on the season 1 episode, "The Lyon's Roar", was nominated for an Emmy. In September 2015, Saks Fifth Avenue launched a curated fashion collection inspired by the show. She worked on the film Chi-Raq with Ruth E. Carter as lead costume designer. She continued to work on projects including Lifetime's Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland (2017) and ABC's The Mayor (2017). She is also a member of the Costume Designers Guild.

Filmography Year Title Role Refs 2001 Baby Boy Wardrobe supervisor 2003 Biker Boyz Costume designer 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 2018 Life-Size 2 Costumes Press

Television Year Title Crew role Refs 1991-1992 In Living Color Costume assistant 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 Sunday Best Stylist 2013 Second Generation Wayans Costume designer Press 2015 Empire Costume designer (season 1) 2016 Zoe Ever After Costume designer 2019 American Soul Costume designer 2019 Loved to Death Costumes Press