'Black Panther' Costume Designer  Ruth E. Carter Discusses The Magic Of Wakanda

If you don’t know Ruth E. Carter, then you’ve seen her work. 

The Oscar-nominated costume designer has worked on films like Malcolm X, Amistad, Selma and 2016’s Emmy-nominated miniseries Roots. Carter’s work will also be on display once again in Marvel’s Black Panther.

In this exclusive clip, Carter teams up with IMAX to talk about creating the clothing for the upcoming film and what it’s like to imagine an entirely new world.

“I loved dressing the people of Wakanda” Carter says in the video. “I had so much fun infusing some traditional African pieces with modern society.”

The famous costume designer used the colors of various African tribes in the pieces for the cast, manipulating them to make them pop on screen or show specific detail. 

“I looked at the Senegalese wrestlers,” she said in a January interview with ESSENCE. “I looked at the Maasai tribe, the Tuareg and they’re all very distinctive in their looks. South Africa is different from West Africa, Nibia is different from Botswana. It was important that once I was guided in the direction of what each part of Wakanda looked like, I could assign each faction to an African tribe.”

In the IMAX video, Carter also touches on creating Queen Ramonda’s (Angela Bassett) incredible shoulder piece, which she calls her “mantle.” “We printed this through the process of 3-D printing. I find it to have the look of African lace.”

Carter adds, “I think when people look at the costumes of Black Panther they’re going to be seeing so many elements…Look at every frame there’s something to learn, something to react to. It’s a feast for the eyes.”

Black Panther hits theaters and IMAX Friday, Feb. 16.

In IMAX® theatres, select scenes of Black Panther will be specially formatted to show audiences up to 26% more image than standard theatres for a truly immersive experience.