Costume designs from 'Black Panther,' 'Coming 2 America' on display at Wright Museum

Nearly four decades of movie magic are celebrated in the newest exhibit at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.

“Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design” opened Tuesday, showcasing iconic works by the two-time Oscar-winner behind the “Black Panther” films and countless Spike Lee joints.

Outfits worn by Mookie, Tina and the ill-fated Radio Raheem from “Do the Right Thing” are on display, as are a host of famous “Black Panther” costumes. Clothing from period pieces “Amistad,” the 2016 “Roots” miniseries remake, “Malcolm X,” “Selma,” and “Dolemite is My Name” are featured alongside the innovative looks that styled the citizens of Zamunda in “Coming 2 America,” showcasing how Carter has chronicled Black history through textiles and even influenced fashion of the future.

“There’s a lot of Afrofuturism in so many forms,” Carter told the Free Press during a visit to the Wright. “I think of ‘Do the Right Thing,’ and Spike really wanting to tell a story that was a protest story, but also, being a young filmmaker, coming into his own — he had a vision of the future. And we were there to shepherd him all the way, and as a result, we created a film that’s in the Library of Congress and can be looked at today and seem very modern.

“And now, here we are — we are enhancing and redirecting the eye towards new forms of beauty. We’re inspired by the tribes of Africa in doing it. We’re infusing technology and story; we’re bringing a Black Panther to life. So, there’s many forms of Afrofuture that I have experienced in my journey as a costume designer that I can say prepared me, for each one of these, to think ahead and to think outside the box.”

A Motor City connection in the exhibit is a double set of zoot suits worn by Denzel Washington and Spike Lee in 1992’s “Malcolm X,” depicting Malcolm’s younger days when he was known in the streets as Detroit Red.

“We have Detroit Red here,” said Carter. “Creating this story was also a dream come true. I was just watching the Roseland Ballroom scenes, and to see all the dancing and all of the fun that movie opens up with really starts the journey and the beginning of the arc. We traveled from there to New York. He goes into prison and the palette is cleansed by all the denim and white. And then he comes out and he meets his mentor, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. I gave him this big, kind of rumpled suit, like somebody loaned it to him to go meet Elijah Muhammad, and he’s just humbled in front of his mentor.

“But then, we go to Egypt and we do a hajj and we change his look, because … he’s a changed man. So I needed to show all of that visually.”

Carter cited the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” character Namor’s costume and feathered serpent headdress as her favorite piece in the exhibit. But a sentimental, laugh-out-loud cult favorite to many that’s also on display is the bright yellow “Fly Guy” pimp suit worn by Antonio Fargas in “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka,” Keenen Ivory Wayans’ 1988 blaxploitation parody. The pièce de resistance of the outfit is a pair of tall platform shoes with mini-aquariums and goldfish inside.

“And then he breaks his heel and the goldfish comes flopping out,” Carter recalled with a laugh.

Not present in this exhibit are costumes Carter designed for the Kevin Costner Western series “Yellowstone,” a series many are surprised to learn she dressed. But there is the regal, self-designed dress she wore when she won her first Academy Award in 2019.

“For me, the word for this exhibit is ‘flashback,’” said Wright Director of Design and Fabrication Kevin Davidson. “We’ve all seen these beloved movies, and we’ve all had our own personal experiences with them. So when you come here and you see these costumes, you’re taken back. These movies are the like the soundtrack of our lives.”

Carter said she hopes visitors to the exhibit learn that costume design can be a viable profession.

“You can never underestimate what your kids can do and what they can be,” she said. “I hope that when families come through here, they’re influenced in the same way that ('Black Panther' director) Ryan Coogler was influenced when he went to see 'Malcolm X' and he was inspired, sitting there with his family, to be a filmmaker.

“I hope this inspires someone to be a costume designer.”

Tickets: www.thewright.org.

Contact Free Press arts and culture reporter Duante Beddingfield at dbeddingfield@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'Black Panther' costume designs on display at Detroit's Wright Museum