In Blackkklansman clothing reflects both racism and resistance

Ron and Patrice

Hate-based groups have long used clothing to both spread and normalize racist rhetoric. At the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville last year, white supremacists co-opted khaki pants and polos to march across a college campus chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans. Four decades earlier, Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke selected polished three-piece suits in an effort to appear charming, saving his hooded robes for cross-burning ceremonies. Marci Rodgers, the costume designer on Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, the true story of a black undercover cop who infiltrates the KKK, researched this period of American history while the 2017 rally was in full swing.

Patrice

“[Lee] had sent me the script prior to the Charlottesville riot,” Rodgers, tells i-D, recounting the days she spent researching at the Library of Congress. “When I landed in DC, that day, it was almost a twilight zone. I had just re-read the script, watched Birth of a Nation, watched Gone With the Wind — then the riot happened right before my eyes. I was watching on TV right as it was happening. I had just started to do some research on Mr. Duke. It was weird.”

Further research for BlaKkKlansman brought the Howard University alumna back to her former college, which Kwame Ture — played in the film by Corey Hawkins — attended back when he was still known as Stokely Carmichael. Rodgers met with the real Ron Stallworth to perfect the former cop’s suede and shearling-heavy wardrobe, and learn how he used accessories to blend in on the street. Laura Harrier’s black power activist Patrice is one of the film’s fictionalized characters — but her intricate all-black leather looks are also inspired by real historical figures.

As BlacKkKlansman hits cinemas today, ahead of the Charlottesville anniversary this weekend, i-D talked to Rodgers about working on the year’s most terrifyingly relevant film.

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Blackkklansman Costume Designer Drew Inspiration From Female leaders of the Leaders of the Black Power Movement

Ron and Patrice

Spike Lee's latest — and Cannes Grand Prix winning — directorial effort, "BlacKkKlansman," tells the true story of Ron Stallworth, the first African American detective to join the Colorado Springs Police Department in the '70s. Based on his book, "Black Klansman: A Memoir," the near-incredible tale follows Stallworth (played by John David Washington) infiltrating and becoming a card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan.

While set in the '70s, the film's political commentary, exploration of social injustice, police brutality and portrayal of racial terrorism specific to the U.S.A. feels very 2018 — and that's the point. "The biggest thing we wanted was to put stuff in the script, very strategically, so it would not be a period piece," the legendary director told reporters at Cannes in May, via the Los Angeles Times. (True to Lee's talents and vision, the movie is also a thrilling — and, at times, bitingly and satirically funny — detective adventure.)

But the production itself, including the rich palette of costumes by Marci Rodgers, stayed meticulously authentic to the time period, including Ron's first undercover assignment attending a speech by Kwame Ture (formerly Stokely Carmichael and played by Corey Hawkins). On his way into the gathering, Ron meets and is understandably impressed by  Colorado College Black Student Union leader Patrice Dumas (Laura Harrier). The moving speech was inspired by real life talks given by the civil rights activist and former Black Panther leader (and beautifully shot by cinematographer Chayse Irvin, who also worked on part of Beyoncé's "Lemonade"). 

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