Costume designer Ruth E. Carter won the 2019 Oscar for her role in Black Panther. She received another Academy Award nomination for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever After. Chronicle books hide the title bar
Costume designer Ruth E. Carter won the 2019 Oscar for her role in Black Panther. She received another Academy Award nomination for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Over the past 30 years, Ruth E. Carter has created some of the most iconic looks from classic film noir and other films, including Do the Right Thing, Malcolm X and Amistad. In Black Panther, Carter became the first black man to win an Oscar for costume design. Now she is nominated again for her work in the sequel to this film, Wakanda Forever.
“I really love movies, I love black history, I love telling people’s stories,” Carter said. “The history of blacks in America is something that has been in my field of vision for a long time.”
Carter is known for doing extensive costume design research that helps bring characters, scenes, and storylines to life. For Black Panther, she researched the traditional customs and appearance of various African tribes and then incorporated these elements into her work.
“We created a lot of mood boards showing different local tribes and what they look like,” she says. “There are thousands of tribes on the continent, and we have chosen eight to twelve to represent the tribes of Wakanda.”
When Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer in 2020, it was unclear if the franchise would continue. Wakanda Forever begins with the funeral of Boseman’s character, T’Challa’s favorite king. In the film, hundreds of mourners lined the streets to watch the funeral procession. Each tribe, dressed in white, is adorned with intricate beadwork, furs, turbans, and other ornaments. According to Carter, watching the footage was a humiliating scene.
“Once everyone was gathered, dressed and getting ready to line up, you knew it was a tribute to Chadwick. It was fantastic,” she said.
Carter’s upcoming book, The Art of Ruth E. Carter: Dressing Africa’s Black History and Future, From Doing the Right Way to Black Panther, will be published by Chronicle Books in May 2023.
”Once everyone gets together, gets dressed and gets ready to line up, you know it’s about Chadwick,” Carter said of Wakanda’s timeless funeral scene.
“Once everyone is gathered and dressed and getting ready to line up, you know it’s about Chadwick,” Carter said of Wakanda’s timeless funeral scene.
Danai Gurira plays General Dora Milaje and Angela Bassett plays Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Eli Ade/Marvel hide caption
Danai Gurira plays General Dora Milaje and Angela Bassett plays Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
It is very important that these materials do not create clothes that look too much like clothes. We really want this to be taken seriously. We didn’t want it to be too sexy, like [the way] manga sometimes depict female warriors. We want them to be on the ground in martial arts boots. Let’s hope they don’t wear cheerleaders and triangle tops. [We want] their bodies to be protected while respecting the female form. So, in the spirit of the Himba tribe, we made a leather suspender, a brown leather suspender that wraps around a woman’s body and emphasizes her bust and waist. It ends with a back skirt and we lace up the edges with studs and rings like the Himba women do because they stretch the calfskin and make these wonderful leather skirts and also lace up the skirt with studs and rings. Director Ryan Coogler wanted to hear Dora Milaje before people saw them. These little rings make a beautiful sound, and although they are deadly, you can hear them before you see them.
The moment you take a piece of clothing from the store, unpack it at home, and put it on, something happens. There is a way to turn you into the character you want to be.
The moment you take a piece of clothing from the store, unpack it at home, and put it on, something happens. There is a way you can transform into the character you are looking forward to when you take off the price tag and put on this dress. There is a person in your mind that you embody in your vision, and there is a vision of the person that we see, your representation. This is where fashion ends and clothes begin, as we create our mood. We created a voice that we wanted to convey to the world without saying a word. That’s what clothes do. They communicate with each other. They either cooperate or oppose. They say who you are, who you want to be, or how you want others to see you. This is the part where clothes can be so simple and yet so complicated.
Carter said her colorful outfits for Spike Lee’s 1989 film Doing the Right Thing reflected the busy neighborhood where the movie was filmed. Chronicle books hide the title bar
Carter said her colorful outfits for Spike Lee’s 1989 film Doing the Right Thing reflected the busy neighborhood where the film was filmed.
We are an independent film. We have a very small budget. We have to make it work with product placement. [Nike] gave us a lot of sneakers, compression shorts, tank tops and stuff, but very saturated colors. Introducing the hottest day of the year. We represented the community in Bed Stay, where I actually lived when we filmed. … Brooklyn is the epitome of the African diaspora, where you can see gele [headbands] and African women in traditional dress. …
I have to be smart because the African fabric balances out the athletic fabric. Therefore, we have made many crop tops, shorts and ankara fabrics. It really creates a vivid picture of the surroundings. … When you think of doing the right thing, you think of a vibrant and prosperous community, and you can see it in color. … This is a vivid, surreal protest film. I think that’s why it has stood the test of time, because it still feels and looks relevant today, especially the storyline.
Spike and I care deeply about our community. We care deeply about our history. There’s a convention that when you’re talking to someone who’s laughing at something you’re laughing at, they know what they’re looking at when you show them your thoughts. There is a wonderful connection to the culture and a desire to showcase our community and represent each other in ways we have experienced but not seen. … I don’t think I would have been the same director without the experience of working with Spike.
“The first thing I wanted to do was get to know this person so I could create a life and a costume for him,” Carter said of her work on the 1992 film Malcolm X. Chronicle books hide caption
”The first thing I wanted to do was get to know this man so I could build his life and his clothes,” Carter said of her work on the 1992 film Malcolm X.
The first thing I want to do is get to know the guy so I can build his life and clothes. I know he’s being held in Massachusetts. … They took his case from theirs and waited for me in a booth with an empty table to take their time. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I have seen his original letter to the commissioner asking him to be transferred to another institution with a bigger and better library. I saw his booking photo, I saw his calligraphy. I feel very close to the person who wrote and touched the paper, the letters. I also went to the university where the late Dr. Betty Shabazz taught. I had a one-on-one conversation with her about her life, what she wore, and about him. So I feel like I can make decisions with confidence about what he can wear when he’s not being photographed, or when he’s at home with his family, or when he’s preparing for one of his great speeches.
Jerry is so organized and organized. I still remember his apartment, well-appointed, with impeccable wardrobes. I can hardly find him anything for the pilot, because it’s a low-budget outfit and he’s going to wear his own. He invited me to pick up some things from his closet. I’m afraid. But I did. I thought: wow, this is cool, I have to try it.
Post time: Jun-19-2023