African culture and a 3D printer make Marvel marvellous

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This was published 6 years ago

African culture and a 3D printer make Marvel marvellous

By Melena Ryzik

Costume designer Ruth Carter has made her career putting images of African-American history and contemporary culture on screen, from Spike Lee's canon to Selma and the recent remake of Roots. For the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther, currently topping the Australian Box Office, she got to envision a futuristic African alternate reality, made up of diverse tribes untouched by colonisers.

The 57-year-old didn't know much about the Marvel universe when she met with the director and co-writer Ryan Coogler, but she liked the comic books' portrayal.

Angela Bassett's Zulu-inspired costume
 took six months to perfect.

Angela Bassett's Zulu-inspired costume took six months to perfect.Credit: AP

"You saw a tribal council happening and someone was sitting there in a suit, and then they'd have a big Maasai headdress," she says.

To imagine the fictional African nation of Wakanda, Carter borrowed from indigenous people across the continent. During six months of pre-production, she had shoppers scouring the globe for authentic African designs, such as the traditional stacked neck rings worn by the Ndebele women of South Africa. But she wanted to create the fabrics her self "and I wanted them to feel very superhero-like," she says.

There was a strict colour palette for each character and group, drafted by Coogler, and a visual bible created by the production designer, Hannah Beachler, which laid out the districts and culture of Wakanda.

Some costumes were more challenging than others. For the headgear worn by Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), "we found a traditional Zulu married woman's hat complete with the ochre that makes it red, and like a hairy, furry, texture on it. It was giant ... " The hat was the model for Bassett's crown, which was 3D-printed. A rounded shoulder mantle, with African lace, was also 3D printed. It took six months, Carter says, to perfect the design.

The costuming for Nakia, played by Lupita Nyong'o, made the broadest leaps, Carter says. The spy's river tribe was based partly on the Suri of Ethiopia, so Nakia's traditional look was made of shells, beads and leaves.

Nakia's civilian clothes were the real challenge.

"It's hard to figure out what a person's casual looks are when they're a war dog, a CIA operative, a casino girl," says Carter. "We were trying things on all the time in the fitting room."

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Nyong'o says there were uncertain moments.

"There were days when, like, last minute, we still didn't know what I was going to wear." But Carter never panicked, she says. "She's so relaxed, in a way that is just spellbinding," says Nyong'o.

Carter says having a backstory for all the characters was vital. "I have to have that back story, or I just can't move a muscle."

The New York Times

Black Panther is out now.

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