The name Ruth E. Carter might not immediately ring a bell, but you know her work. For three decades, the Oscar-winning and boundary-breaking costume designer has been curating the fashion world of many films integral to representation of the Black experience.
.” In addition to Carter’s stories on the making of certain films, the book features sketches, mood boards, movie stills and behind-the-scenes photos. “If you really want some antiques, you got to go to these places,” Carter said of seeking authentic pieces for inspiration. “In ‘Black Panther,’ I had a shopper who went all over the African continent.”
On other occasions, a trip to the mall suffices. During the filming of Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing” in the late 1980s, Carter needed some custom jewelry. One character in the movie was to wear rings emblazoned with the words “love” and “hate,” per Lee’s script, but her first attempt at sourcing the bling — from a private jeweler — turned out nothing like what Black youth were wearing in the Brooklyn neighborhoods where the film was set.
When it comes to paying homage to history, Carter is very detail-oriented. She dug into a biography of Malcolm X to source details of his wardrobe for Lee’s 1992 biographical drama, down to the exact color of the civil rights activist’s first zoot suit — powder blue. A number of African tribes provided inspiration for the fashions seen in Wakanda, the fictional country in the movie franchise; Carter learned of the tribes’ ancient sartorial traditions through history books and photo essays of collections and worked to honor them across the characters’ wardrobes.
And when dressing the Talokanil — inhabitants of Talokan, the underwater kingdom in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — Carter worked to honor Maya culture, through pieces such as the large lionfish-inspired headdress and shoulder piece created with feathers and worn by Namora . Technology was key to making the wardrobe appear simultaneously ancient and futuristic — a fitting approach given that Wakanda is also exceptionally advanced in its technology.
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