Discover the importance of costumes in storytelling as Ruth E. Carter gives a behind the scenes look into the costume design process. Proceeds support the Black Design Collective Creative Center and The Black Design Collective Scholarship Fund.
(By Sean McKenzie) Los Angeles, CA
On January 12, 2023, the Black Design Collective will host a conversation with Academy Award-winning Costume Designer Ruth E. Carter as she shares the design process of creating over 2000 unique costumes for Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER.
Carter introduces superheroes and the underwater world of the Talokan to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with hundreds of new looks and multiple builds for characters that are steeped in symbolism and storytelling from two civilizations that battle on land, in air, and underwater. She elevates the Afrofuturistic Wakanda with more brilliance and depth of culture, creating new costumes and super suits for the original characters from the film BLACK PANTHER (2018) for which Carter won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design.
In the summer of 2020, Ruth Carter was approached by director Ryan Coogler, who informed her that the sequel would be introducing underwater dwellers—the Talokanil—inspired by Mesoamerican cultures. When Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020, the question was how would Wakanda continue. WAKANDA FOREVER is not only a tribute to Boseman, but an evolution of the world that was created in the first film.
The event, “Designing Costumes of Wakanda – A Conversation with Ruth E. Carter,” will be held at the Black Design Creative Center, located at The New Mart Building/Black Design Collective Creative Center 127 East 9th Street Los Angeles, CA 90015.
Bartender Melodie Murphy, owner of MIXED BAR SERVICES will craft 3 Signature cocktails honoring “Wakanda Forever”, Ruth E. Carter and Chadwick Boseman for the evening with UNCLE NEAREST, the Most Awarded American Whiskey or Bourbon of 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. The brand is named for the first known African American master distiller: Nearest Green. Whisky Magazine’s American Icons of Whisky Awards named Nearest’s great-great-granddaughter Victoria Eady-Butler as Master Blender of the Year in both 2021 and 2022, the first person in history to take home that honor two years in a row. Led by Founder and CEO Fawn Weaver and CBO Katharine Jerkens, the all-female executive team of Uncle Nearest is changing the face of American whiskey while honoring the best whiskey maker the world never knew.
For Tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/designing-the-costume-of-wakanda-forever-a-conversation-with-ruth-e-carter-tickets-498523676737
Date & Time:
Thursday, January 12, 2023
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM PST
ABOUT:
Ruth E. Carter is the Academy Award-winning film costume designer, known for turning the BLACK PANTHER superhero into an African King; making history as the first Black person to win in the category, and earning Marvel Studios their first Oscar recognition. Over three decades in film, television, and theater, Carter has earned seventy credits and collaborated with prolific directors, including Spike Lee, Steven Spielberg, Ava DuVernay, and Ryan Coogler. Carter’s costumes based on real and imaginative characters provide an arc to the narratives of African Americans. From DO THE RIGHT THING, MALCOLM X, WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT, AMISTAD, THE BUTLER, MARSHALL, SELMA, DOLEMITE IS MY NAME, COMING 2 AMERICA to BLACK PANTHER; her devotion to retraining the eye to see beauty through costume design and telling stories that enrich the humanity of the Black experience cements her legacy as a preeminent voice and expert on period genres and Afro aesthetics. Carter’s outstanding costume design work has been honored with Academy Award nominations for MALCOLM X (1993) and AMISTAD (1998), and an Emmy nomination for the miniseries reboot of ROOTS (2016). The impact of her career in filmmaking has been recognized with the Costume Designers Guild’s Career Achievement Award (2019) and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2021). Carter is a member of the board of governors for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
Black Design Collective (BDC) Founded in 2018 is comprised of accomplished fashion industry professionals of color who seek to amplify the influence of and create opportunities for the community of black apparel and accessory designers and costume designers within the US and abroad. The BDC mission is rooted in the promotion of scholarship, mentorship, and entrepreneurship within emerging generations of black fashion design talent. Through this work, the BDC aims at ultimately fostering an independent and self-sustaining Black fashion community. BDC Founders are Ruth E. Carter, Kevan Hall, TJ Walker, and Angela Dean. Visit: blackdesigncollective.com.