New 'Afrofuturism’ Exhibition Spotlights ‘Black Panther’ Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter
In 1988, Ruth E. Carter landed a job on the set of Spike Lee’s film School Daze in the costume department. Since then, she’s brought to life some of film’s most iconic characters through her masterful wardrobe creations, and, in 2019, she became the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design for her work in Black Panther. In celebration of her history-making win and her decades-long career of replicating the Black experience through fashion, the SCAD Fash Museum of Fashion and Film in Atlanta, Georgia opens the new exhibition, Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design.
While her career speaks for itself, her early days in the industry can be traced back to her humble beginnings in 1986 as a volunteer in the dye shop at Western Costume, a Hollywood institution—predating even the longest-running studios—that supplies props and costumes for film sets. “I was very excited as a young Black woman coming into an institution like that, it was my intro to the Hollywood landscape,” she recalls to L’OFFICIEL. “I felt like I had something to offer this world of cinema that was new and exciting.”
Over 30 years later, Carter and Lee have collaborated on 12 film projects, all of which center around political themes of the African-American experience and Black life. In the exhibition, a photograph of Angela Bassett, taken in tribute to Lee and styled by Carter, in front of a black upside-down American flag represents not only Carter’s collaboration with Marvel (Bassett stars in Black Panther), but also her existing relationship with Lee.
Her expansive career notes 66 film credits, including some of Hollywood’s most prolific films about civil unrest and the Black community such as Selma, Do the Right Thing, and Malcolm X. But to understand these characters, Carter says that research is the key to a successful costume design. “We really want to know what was going on during those times of turbulence, of unrest, of uprising, and what were the factors involved with them having clothing, whether they were given clothing by a slave owner, or whether they wore a hoodie or whether they wore the fashion of the times” she explains.
“If I were to, like I said, put a hoodie on and have a pack of Skittles in my hand, we would all recognize those images," Carter continues. "That's part of the costume designer's journey, to add realism to what people would wear, to add a story to what people wear. Give people their intent.”
In her body of work, Carter has dressed fictional versions of civil rights leaders Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but when speaking on the current climate of protests against police brutality, she compares today’s Black Lives Matter movement to one of her earlier projects with Lee. “You can look at the story of Radio Raheem in Do the Right Thing and think of Eric Garner and any of the Black Lives Matter protests,” Carter states. “They do parallel.”
While this connects the past to the present, there are several examples that draw between the past and the future as well—Afrofuturism, after all, is the intersection of the African diaspora with technology. Upon entering the main salon of the exhibition, antebellum attire—both tattered slave garments and ball gowns—from Carter’s artistry on Roots greets visitors. Looking to the center of the room at the technologically-advanced Black Panther costume collection, the film's Mining Tribe ensemble features a beaded headpiece over a wig—an accessory that Carter had on hand from her work on Roots. It’s a detail that no one would know but her, but it’s another example of how the past influences the future.
For Black Panther, Carter, as instructed by Marvel and the film’s director Ryan Coogler, designed the characters’ wardrobe using influences from 12 different African tribes. Though she believes much of the details gets lost on screen, Carter says, “We really kept the footprint of the tribal influences when we applied them to the costume.” The Dora Milaje uniform, seen on Danai Gurira’s character Okoye, was predominantly inspired by the Maasai and the Turkana tribes, evidenced by the beadwork, as well as the Himba tribe, who soak calves skin to create a ruffled edging, something the costume features as well. The skin of the Black Panther’s suit consists of tiny triangles, the sacred geometry of Africa which represents the Father, the Mother, and the Child.
While these details may not be obvious to the everyday Marvel fan, Carter's commitment to her craft paid off—last year, her Oscar win for Best Costume Design was not only the first time that award was won by a Black woman, but also the first Academy Award for Marvel. At the end of the exhibition, in the gift shop, visitors will see Carter’s Oscar's dress, which she designed herself. On the back, a crescent pendant hangs from the neck with a message engraved in Wakandan: “2019 Oscar win.” Not only is Carter an icon and influential figure in the costume industry, she also knows how to truly dress for success.
SCAD Fash's Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design is now on view.
