The Himba people of Namibia are just some of the African peoples that inspired the costume design for the movie Black Panther, which premiered in Windhoek on Friday.

The film’s legendary costume designer, Ruth Elaine Carter, looked at the Himba, the Maasai people of Kenya and Tanzania, the Ndebele people of South Africa, the Basotho people of Lesotho, the Tuareg people of the Sahara Desert, including parts of Libya, Algeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, the Dogon people of Mali and the Suri people of South Sudan and Ethiopia, for ideas.

Set in the fictional, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda, Black Panther had the opportunity to create a unique world that blends futuristic science fiction with traditional clothing and art from across Africa. Of particular interest have been the teaser’s eye-popping
visuals.

Marvel’s Black Panther movie has generated a fair amount of buzz. The movie’s almost entirely black cast include Zimbabwean actor Danai Gurira, Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyongo, South African actor John Kani, Guyanese actor Letitia Write, German-Ugandan actor Florence Kasumba, American actors Forest Whitaker, Chadwick Boseman, Angela Bassett and British actor Daniel
Kaluuya. Read more