The Woman King has made $66 million at the worldwide box office, and counting. A crowd pleaser for sure, the movie’s marketing alone has presented charming visuals in cinematography, stunt action, and defiant Black women charging into war. Based on the all-woman military regiment of West Africa’s Dahomey Kingdom in the 1800s, The Woman King story is made all the more powerful by the costumes the cast dons.
From the warriors wearing custom-made woven kente to the batik prints incorporated in their attire, the costumes add to the visual experience of the film. At the nexus of this creative effort is Nana Afriyah, the craftswoman who coordinated costume operations in Ghana. Afriyah studied some costume design while at university (at the International Academy of Design & Technology in Tampa, Florida), but didn’t get to use that knowledge until years later in Ghana on the film series Adam’s Apple in 2011.