When Ruth E. Carter and Hannah Beachler (pronounced BEEK-ler) enter the room, you can tell that you’re dealing with two creative ladies. Just the day before Carter’s hair was in an intricate design for her walk down the purple carpet for Black Panther. Now, it’s in a full fro of blond curls, and it’s looking fabulous. Beachler is sporting a cascade of brown curls, and her smile is contagious. They both warmly greet us, and we get started with our questions for Production Designer, Hannah Beachler and Costume Designer, Ruth E. Carter, for one of the most anticipated films this year. By the way, did you see that it broke the 200 million dollar mark opening weekend? It made it’s budget back in three days, and that speaks VOLUMES.
With so much of the conversation surrounding the clothing and the landscape of Wakanda, it’s only natural that we were able to sit down with these talented women and ask them what was the inspiration behind their vision of Wakanda and its people. They weren’t stingy with the answers either, and it made for one of the best conversations that I’ve had regarding hair, clothing, land and heritage.
Beauty of Wakanda and it’s location
We all know that Wakanda is a fictional place, so we wanted to know Beachler’s vision for it. Here’s what she had to say.
HB: I come on first. Production designer’s usually onfilms first after the director, hired by the director and theproducers. You know, ofcourse I had seen that it was announced that he was doing it.And come in and do this. So, you know, process was — and he wasreally good about guiding me — is starting at the macro. And itwas really about like where is Wakanda in — on the continent ofAfrica, you know, because that’s going to then determineeverything that goes around.
And we kind of set it in sort of eastern sub-Saharan Africa.So, basically you can kind of place it on the borderof DRC like right above Burundi and Rwanda. So there was likeKibuye was there, Kenya, Uganda, above Uganda, Sudan. So, that’ssort of where we are. And we also took from Omo Valley tribes inEthiopia. So you go down a little bit, but we wanted to keep itsub-Saharan. We wanted to keep it very specific.
So, I did reach into Nigeria, Lagos. Did a lot of research inNairobi and the bigger cities around — and Kenya and in South Africa, Joburg, Cape Town just for some of the architecture. AndI looked at lot of older architecture. So, that’s really where myprocess started really big. Where are we? And then it was likewhat is the typography of the land? Next step is where does eachtribe live on that land and why? And what is each tribe’shistory. So then I go down and dot through each tribes’ history,and like this is why they live here. There is a story and areason behind every single thing you see on thatscreen coming from me and coming from Ruth.
Every single tiny, little — you know, I’m gettin’ alittle bit of chills, because it really is. Like people — it’sreal. It is so — intentional. And really meaningful andthoughtful and everything that we did from the colors to every little thing. I think we were in a couple like reallypersonal spaces. And if you look around, you’re gonna see thatcharacter. And I think a lot of the process for me was takingbig spaces and making them feel intimate.
Because that’s how the continent felt me to when I wasthere. When I was in South Africa, it’s like you look around andit’s these giant spaces, you know, even when you’re in the city,but there’s an intimacy and that comes from the culture and thepeople. So, that’s really where I started my whole thing and,you know, just kept, you know, working that research anddevelopment for that entire time that we were on there. And then
when Ruth came on —
The creation of those costumes
RC: Their train had already left the station by the time Igot on. And so, it was really a matter of me starting out beinga really good listener, really getting into what they had done,understanding what they had done. I was in Hannah’s officesitting across from her like let me see everything. And shesaid, hey, I’ve got this manual, and itoutlines everything. I open it up and there’s likea map of Wakanda. It has a royal palace in the middle.It has districts of — that are explained to the hilt.I was like how long did it take you to do this manual?Everything is written out. The Insivity language is in there andyou know what it means. So, I bring the manual back to my teamand I’m like, everybody, study this. Study this. Studythis. We are going to call these districts by thenames that they made up in the office. I want boards. I want images.
We were looking at Afropunk. We’re looking at modern fashion.We’re moving everything forward. Everything has to be beautiful.We are not going to lie in any stereotypes at all. Whatsoever.And we want to present this world as a kingdom.What if Africa was not colonized?This is what they would honor. And you see theseimages of the Himba girl with her leather drape on and her Himbaplaced all over her skin and her costume, and she’s pushing likea grocery cart in like a little convenience store. This is likea real photo that I saw.
And I thought, wow, this is like really cool how youcan mix ancient indigenous tribal culture with modern. We don’twant to make a documentary. This is a futuristic place. This isa place that has the richest mineral known on earth, Vibranium.And, you know, they’re aware of it. They’re aware of theirrichness. So, let’s just move that forward. Looking at Afropunk,those images that you see on your phone, going through yourInstagram, you see that beauty. And that’s some of the beautythat we wanted to infuse. And when you see the Dora Milaje, yousee the Maasai tribe, you see the Himba.
The same drape that that girl in the grocery store pushing thecart had in front of her body with the little ringlets on theend of the leather, I put that on the back of the Dora Milaje sothat when they walked in the room, Ryan Coogler said I wannahear them.Can we put stuff on their ankles so that we hear themcoming? And hearing them coming on set, I didn’t hear themcoming in the — I mean arriving in the movie. But on set you
can hear them.
And I felt like the color, we upped the ante on thecolor. If you go to Africa, you see people walking around withcolor. You see a brown guy with a yellow shirt andred pants. That’s just the norm. So, we’re not reinventinganything. We’re just bringing it out. And we’re just honoring it
and holding it up. So, you know, that’s how we started.
HB: It just inspired me. It was that second wind. Andso, every– once in a while I’d go over to Ruth’s like —
RC: Yoooo —
HB: I’m back, you know, to look and see of all thisbeautiful texture. And color.
RC: And I respected Hannah so much. I mean she had doneLemonade and Moonlight and I respected her artistry so much. So,for her to be excited I was just like, okay we’re gonna be going forward. Keep going forward.
Yeah, and so we did have this vision board. And I hada shopper — we had shop– we all had shoppers, and I had onethat was in Africa, in South Africa. I had one in Nigeria. I hada shopper in South Korea. And they were — and I said I wannasee the real thing. I don’t wanna see the tourists’ trade. Igotta see the real Dogon mask. I gotta see the real Himbadrapes. I wanna see the real thing so that I could springboardfrom
HB: Lesotho.
RC: The Lesotho.
HB: We were all on that.
RC: Yeah, oh, my God. That was —
HB: You gotta talk about that for a little bit, because —
RC: Oh, my God. Yes, and so the Lesotho Village they’reone of the last to be colonized, and so they have held on totheir traditions. And one of their traditions is this blanketthat was given to them from England. So, you know, it is a kindof a part of the beginnings of their colonization. But there’sthis beautiful blanket that the King of Lesotho embraced for hisvillage and was like in the 1800s. So, this blanket representsthe Queen. They have these different designs thatthey do, and they’re magnificent. They’re beautiful.
And the Border Tribe they use these blankets, based on RyanCoogler’s trip to South Africa and to the Lesotho Village wherehe stayed — and he fell in love with these blankets. So, he waslike, Ruth, you have to get these Lesotho blankets. I was likeokay. I’m gonna get ‘em. So, my South Africa shopper went to thecompany that made them and we got them in in all colors, youknow. And then we had to get them all cleared, because they allmean different things. They have meanings as
They hold them dear in their nation. So, we cameratested. We had like — I don’t know — 300 of these blanketsthat the whole army was gonna use. And Ryan said we need to lacethem with Vibranium. Weneed to make sure that they have Vibranium on them. So, wesilk-screened the silver patterns that you see in the movie. So you see they had all those silver elements to them.We had to figure out how tomake these blankets that are beautiful more pliable. They were toostiff. The pile was too heavy. They just kind of, you know, justsat on top and sat as opposed to draping on top. And just one ofmy assistants said you know what. I’m gonna go get a shaver likethey use in the barber.
Instead we burned them. Someone else cameto the table and they said if we burned the cotton fibers, another part of the fiber that was
synthetic would stay. And that’s how they were pliable.
On styling Chadwick Boseman
RC: Well, when you look at the cast, you know, there iskind of the antagonist and the protagonist. You know, Chadwickis the king and then Michael B. Jordan is the antagonist.
The king is royal. The king is the king. Wedecided that, you know, the panther suit, well, the new suit wasgoing to be a newer technology, more streamline, more beautiful,less for us than the Civil War one was. And so, that translatesinto his everyday wardrobe. I tried to pick things that I feltthat would be body conscious. You see he wears a lotta moreknits and sweaters — so that you see his arms.
Yeah. And so, you know, he was fun to dress. We didthe embroidery on his tailcoat. And that was a fun process — the first time he put on — we triedso many different embroidery styles on there. And I was neverreally satisfied. And he would put one on and he was like, yeah,I feel like the Commodores right now. I presented the problem to Ryan who was just sowonderful about, you know, helping you problem solve. Ryan
Coogler. He said, here, I saw this beautiful dashiki and it hada gorgeous embroidery pattern on the front. Use that. Done.
On their favorite set
RC: Shuri’s lab.
HB: Same
HB: We knew Shuri’s was gonna be last. So, Letitia would belike mine better good. And I said — every time I seeher I was like it’s gone be. Like, you’re not even gonna believeit. And she was like okay. Like, she wasn’t believing me.I think it was kinda Feige’s favorite as well. He hadtold me.And we just put a lotta heart into it, and then when Shuri walkedin that day she came up to me and she went around that circle.She was like around the circle. And then shesaw me and she goes you did it. I was like I told you! I told you it was gonna be awesome.
But it was just a lotta fun, you know, because she’s young.She’s a genius. She dressed fabulously. And there’s a lot toher. You know, she’s her brother’s keeper. She wants to protectWakanda. She is loyal to her mother and her father. So, all ofthat went in there. And she’s smarter than Tony Stark. She’s thesmartest woman on earth. She’s the smartest person.
She’s the smartest person on earth, man or woman. Andso we had to reflect that. But we also wanted to reflect in thebig graffiti piece that you see in the centerpiece.
As you can see, this interview was DEEP and so much fun. I was sad to see that our time came to and end so quickly. You can check out the scenes AND the costumes on the big screen now that Black Panther is open in theaters worldwide!
Here’s a clip to motivate you to see it for the first time – or the fourth (if you’re me) time. Enjoy!
Any tips on incorporating this style with appropriating it?
Natasha Nicholes
Wednesday 21st of February 2018
You can start with small aspects of the prints. Using them in accessories. If you feel uncomfortable wearing an entire outfit made from it, pay honor through those smaller things.
Andrea @ MouseInMyPocket.com
Tuesday 20th of February 2018
Any tips on incorporating this style with appropriating it?
Natasha Nicholes
Wednesday 21st of February 2018
You can start with small aspects of the prints. Using them in accessories. If you feel uncomfortable wearing an entire outfit made from it, pay honor through those smaller things.
Andrea @ MouseInMyPocket.com
Tuesday 20th of February 2018
**without