Past to Present: Bridging Generations in Fashion is a Women’s History Month series focusing on disruptors who have made significant contributions to fashion and the culture at large.
A conversation with Ruth E. Carter feels like a masterclass on material Black history. Her recollection of costuming some of the culture’s foremost films depicts a clear picture of her legacy, imagination, and dedication to the craft. Sharing this legacy with the public is her traveling exhibit, Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism In Costume Design, coming to The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis on March 22.
Carter’s career is colored with devoted self-education and ingenuity. Learning the important nuances between the esthetic distance in theater or the “subtleties of texture” magnified through a film shot, has led her to define a genre of storytelling that sees no limit to creation. Whether that means spending countless hours researching in library collections or transforming a Pier One Imports placemat into a warrior’s headdress, her dedication to impactful storytelling as a means of cultural preservation is undeniable.
The importance of archiving this work is a fact she feels passionately about. With her early beginnings stemming from the theater, Carter viewed archiving costumes as another part of the job. As theater budgets were often limited, having a collection of past costumes to pull from and reimagine was crucial.
“Once I stepped into the film industry in 1987 to do School Daze, I thought, ‘Well we created so many costumes there’s a lot of things that are going to be useful when [Spike Lee] comes back to do another film’,” she begins. “At the time, he was on fire, doing a new film every year. So I would stock things in the basement of 40 Acres and a Mule, his production company.” After repeatedly finding that the clothing was done away with for one reason or another, she realized, “Maybe I can’t save everything like we do in theater, but I can save the things that are important to the film.”
Carter explains how in that era of filmmaking, no one spoke of costume design, save for Lee mentioning her name and work in interviews, and further, no one thought to speak with designers themselves. Today, through her traveling exhibit, Ruth E. Carter is educating a new generation on the cultural impact of design.
“Now, through me collecting the important pieces from my movies throughout the years, I amassed this collection of history of Black cinema. The conversation has come to the foreground, and we’re able to talk about the process of being a costume designer.” Through this process, she is proud to display her life’s work in a children’s museum with the intention of inspiring young people to explore the arts and costuming as a viable career path.
“It took a long time to realize this exhibition,” she explains of the curatorial process. She first began after Black Panther released in 2018—she became the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design the following year. From her childhood sewing machine and early college sketches, to up-close looks at the Malcolm X zoot suits and Turkana-tribe inspired beadwork for Black Panther, the result was a comprehensive, full-circle story.
“I picked things for this exhibition that would not only inspire artists and show costume design, but also give people a historical education.” This includes the dress she wore to receive her historic Oscar Award.
Accompanying her work within the Indianapolis display, is the work of visual artist Israel Solomon. Carter goes on to explain the overlap between the two mediums, through color theory for example, and the role they each play together: “Visual art and costume design both tell stories that shape cultural narrative,” she shares. “[They] celebrate identity and heritage in a unique and powerful way.”
Seeing all of this work come together feels deeply validating for Carter. “I can see the passion I took with me into each one of those films.” She speaks of the wisdom she gained with each project and how utilizing “anachronisms” allowed her to be historically accurate while pushing the conversation forward. With Roots, she learned about the significant history of indigo, and was able to tell the story of a historic shipwreck through Amistad. The fruits of her labor provide a detailed history of Black culture and survival through cinema.
“I’m very intentional with my work, and when I see all of it together, it’s sometimes overwhelming. It’s a joy; a celebration of who I am and what I was able to do through many years of my career, and how impactful it still is on people today.”
She goes back to the thought of parents bringing their inquisitive and creative children to the exhibit, and how transformative that can be for a budding mind. This is especially important, as art education and programs continue to lose funding. As a child, Carter was afforded creative outlets through the support of her local community, fostered for her by her single mother. She believes that having access to community in this way shaped her future and personal development, and it is through this enrichment that she believes children find necessary networks of safety and extracurricular opportunities. Her aim is to inspire this cultural exploration and communal connectivity through the narrative she constructs with every film, and to bolster that curiosity through the exhibit.
On this topic, she highlights Afrofuturism, a concept she employs heavily in her work. Carter defines Afrofuturism as “a unification of culture and technology in one space.” This unification demonstrates the way Black communities have historically imagined possibilities beyond our oppression.
More pointedly, she looks to Afrofuturistic styling as a means to shape a collective identity rooted in pride and resilience. Take, for example, the challenging of the throne scene in Black Panther that saw an array of traditional clothing enhanced by futuristic technology. “For me, it’s [about] blending tradition and innovation to craft designs that honor the past while envisioning a bold and vibrant future.”
To Carter, Afrofuturism is as essential to Earth, Wind, & Fire and Parliament-Funkadelic as it is to Spike Lee who shapes his inclusive worlds through film. She hopes by witnessing this exhibit, young children can feel moved to play dress up, conjure up a character, and shape their life paths through imaginative lenses.
