A lot of us have the wrong idea of Africa. For one, many look at the continent through a monolithic lens — lumping the hundreds of cultures and languages found there into a single reductionistic narrative. Second, many believe all of Africa is, and always has been, devoid of wealth. That it would be impossible to discover the same kind of splendour and extravagance in its history as in, say, Marie Antoinette’s cinched silk dresses and powdered hair. These prejudices are so pervasive, in fact, that Ruth Carter had to work overtime to educate her team of illustrators about African culture.
“There just hasn’t been enough truth out there to really show the beauty of Africa,” Ruth tells me. “So I had to explain what we were doing to each of my five illustrators.” Ruth made her vision meticulously clear. “I put hundreds of images up on boards,” the black, Massachusetts-born costume designer elaborates with.” If you were sitting in front of your computer, they were right behind it and around your desk. And I had tons of Post-its and arrows and circles for whatever it was the illustrators were working on.” In short, Ruth was not here for misrepresentation.
A centuries-spanning synthesis of references was created for Black Panther’s costumes. Ruth and her team gleaned inspiration from afrofuturism, afropunk, and the fashion of indigenous tribes. This eclectic approach resulted in fabulously ornate outfits. Ramonda, queen of Wakanda, wears dysmorphic, haute couture pieces that definitely would have made Marie Antoinette jealous. One of Ramonda’s most spellbinding outfits is a dove-white ensemble, featuring a sculptural jacket shaped like the moon and a towering traditional Zulu hat. For black viewers, moments like these are refreshing and vital reminders that great artistry courses through our blood. It is a rebuttal against history books that suggest European colonizers “saved” Africans. “We’re looking at a world that exists without colonisation,” Ruth says, wonderment in her voice. “I used the traditions, colouring, and adornments that indigenous tribes did and used it in a futuristic way.”
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