African fashion in film: Hollywood's Afrofuturism

Ruth Carter won her first Oscar for the elaborate costumes she designed with the help of 3D-technology for the groundbreaking 2018 blockbuster "Black Panther." The costumes now form the centerpiece of an exhibition entitled "Ruth E. Carter – Afrofuturism in Costume Design" at the SCAD Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta.

These four words were pinned on the wall of Carter's studio as she painstakingly researched African fashion for inspiration while designing the costumes for "Black Panther." She explained about her work that she thinks that "people will now look at and appreciate African art differently. That is what we have done."

Carter has 40 years as a Hollywood costume designer under her belt. Back in 1989, she designed the costumes for Spike Lee's film "Do the Right Thing." Her brief from Lee, who most recently raised eyebrows with his film "BlacKkKlansman" (2018), was to make the costumes garish: "Bright ... blinding AFROCENTRIC bright!" were the instructions.

The 1976 novel "Roots" by Alex Haley was adapted into a TV series a year later. It tells the tale of Kunta Kinte, who was abducted from Africa and brought to America as a slave. For the remake, Carter designed the costumes of several generations of both slaves and plantation owners. She received an Emmy nomination for her designs.

In the film "Malcolm X," Denzel Washington played the controversial character of Malcolm Little, who gave up his last name after a stint in prison and replaced it with an X to symbolize his African ancestry. True to form, Carter devoted herself to extensive research, even gaining access to Little's prison records to get closer to the character. Her efforts earned her a Oscar nomination.

Carter worked with Stephen Spielberg on the 1997 historical Hollywood film "Amistad," based on the true story of events in 1839 aboard a slave ship called La Amistad. She received her second Oscar nomination for the costumes she created for this film.

For the film "Selma" directed by Ava DuVernay, which chronicles the voting rights' marches led by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, Carter again conducted extensive research. This is illustrated by the countless sketches and accompanying objects at the exhibition that highlight the time she invested in designing her creations.

"Shaft" starring Samuel L. Jackson and the 1988 parody film "I'm Gonna Git You Sucka" are both about black action heroes. While in the former, Jackson's character wears a black leather jacket that harks back to the Black Panther Party, the comedic costume designs of the latter include a pair of outrageous platforms with live goldfish in the heels.

Carter defines Afrofuturism as the marriage of "technology and imagination," and as a "philosophy that allows black Americans, Africans and Indigenous Peoples to believe and create free from slavery and colonialism." The exhibition at the SCAD Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta, Georgia (USA) features 60 of her costumes and will run until September 2021.