1 00:00:13,070 --> 00:00:17,490 People assume that I became a costume designer because I love fashion. 2 00:00:20,580 --> 00:00:22,250 But that wasn't it at all. 3 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,960 My heroes were Langston Hughes, 4 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:30,300 James Baldwin, Nikki Giovanni, Sonia Sanchez. 5 00:00:31,010 --> 00:00:33,090 Playwrights, poets. 6 00:00:33,510 --> 00:00:36,220 Those were the designers that inspired me. 7 00:00:37,260 --> 00:00:40,850 People think I sew, but that's not really what I do. 8 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:44,690 What I do is I tell stories. 9 00:01:37,740 --> 00:01:41,160 When I was first starting out doing costume design for theater, 10 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:45,080 my mom came to see a play I was doing and she came backstage afterwards. 11 00:01:46,460 --> 00:01:48,290 She sat in the costume shop 12 00:01:48,370 --> 00:01:51,590 while I gathered the laundry from the play, 13 00:01:51,670 --> 00:01:54,000 brought it up to the costume shop. 14 00:01:54,380 --> 00:01:56,220 She said, "You mean to tell me 15 00:01:56,380 --> 00:01:59,680 that you graduated with a four-year degree 16 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,430 to come out and do somebody's laundry?" 17 00:02:07,430 --> 00:02:09,730 What is costume design? 18 00:02:11,110 --> 00:02:13,440 Nobody really knows what it is that we do. 19 00:02:13,770 --> 00:02:16,070 Is it fashion? Do you sew? 20 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:21,700 I mean, they know what lighting design is, they know what directing is. 21 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:25,410 I think as we evolved as a filmmaking body, 22 00:02:25,490 --> 00:02:28,410 there's more focus on it as an art form. 23 00:02:31,330 --> 00:02:36,550 For me, costume design is the process of taking an idea 24 00:02:36,630 --> 00:02:39,300 and making it come to life. 25 00:02:39,630 --> 00:02:41,930 It starts, you know, in here first 26 00:02:42,260 --> 00:02:45,100 and it, uh, is developed. 27 00:02:46,970 --> 00:02:50,020 You have to understand a little bit about people, 28 00:02:51,940 --> 00:02:55,150 what makes a person who they are, 29 00:02:56,230 --> 00:02:58,690 where they live, what they believe in. 30 00:03:01,740 --> 00:03:04,700 Sometimes that's really reflective on the outside. 31 00:03:05,700 --> 00:03:07,040 It's storytelling. 32 00:03:13,380 --> 00:03:16,750 The best costume design does this quiet work 33 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:19,420 of setting the stage for the viewer. 34 00:03:20,130 --> 00:03:22,680 When it's in the hands of someone like Ruth Carter, 35 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:26,680 you can't even tell that she's designing to tell a story. 36 00:03:27,890 --> 00:03:30,100 There's a certain way that Ruth 37 00:03:30,180 --> 00:03:31,810 assembles her costumes 38 00:03:31,890 --> 00:03:34,690 that makes you feel like, whoever this person is, 39 00:03:34,770 --> 00:03:36,900 that they are indeed the... 40 00:03:36,980 --> 00:03:39,690 the owners of this... you know, I don't want to say costume, 41 00:03:39,780 --> 00:03:43,280 because I think that the power is that you don't think of it as "costume." 42 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:45,720 You think of it as, like, "This is... this is who they are." 43 00:03:48,580 --> 00:03:51,660 As a director, you wanna surround yourself with the best people. 44 00:03:51,750 --> 00:03:53,710 The films I've done with Ruth, it's not like... 45 00:03:54,210 --> 00:03:55,670 you gotta talk all the time. 46 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:58,300 Nah. We know what we're doing. 47 00:03:58,750 --> 00:04:01,760 And I trust her, knowing that she's gonna come back 48 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:04,130 to show me stuff that's gonna be right on the money. 49 00:04:06,550 --> 00:04:09,520 She makes you feel good about yourself in those clothes. 50 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:11,560 You can tell when, uh, 51 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,560 she's gotten it right or she feels like she has it right because she lights up. 52 00:04:17,900 --> 00:04:20,900 What makes Ruth's work so beautiful is the humanity. 53 00:04:20,990 --> 00:04:23,820 It never feels like costumes, you know. It just feel like clothes. 54 00:04:23,900 --> 00:04:25,780 Even when it's at its most extravagant, 55 00:04:25,860 --> 00:04:29,950 people are jumping out of airplanes and fighting big Afrofuturistic battles. 56 00:04:31,450 --> 00:04:34,160 It still feels like something that these characters put on 57 00:04:34,620 --> 00:04:35,710 and that they wear. 58 00:04:36,210 --> 00:04:37,670 They still felt like people. 59 00:04:38,090 --> 00:04:41,460 That's one of those things when it's like, "Man, how she do that?" You know? 60 00:04:45,590 --> 00:04:48,970 The very first thing I do is break down the script. 61 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:56,520 There is a lot of wonderment in the first reading of the script. 62 00:04:57,270 --> 00:05:00,070 "How are we going to attack this? 63 00:05:00,150 --> 00:05:04,950 What is the DP going to want as far as a color palette? 64 00:05:05,700 --> 00:05:09,490 What's the director thinking of in terms of these characters, 65 00:05:09,580 --> 00:05:11,330 and what does everybody see?" 66 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,370 One of my favorite projects was Roots. 67 00:05:17,710 --> 00:05:19,750 "We start to hear the pounding of drums. 68 00:05:20,420 --> 00:05:24,130 This then becomes the screams of Africans being taken into slavery. 69 00:05:24,550 --> 00:05:27,010 The waves of the ocean sea join this mix. 70 00:05:27,340 --> 00:05:29,970 Kizzy sees a figure coming towards her for a moment. 71 00:05:30,050 --> 00:05:33,310 It's clear as day that it's young Kunta Kinte." 72 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,770 It's just beautifully written. 73 00:05:37,810 --> 00:05:41,070 My job is the... the visual, uh, story. 74 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:44,360 You know, to bring those textures and those colors that, 75 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,780 you know, how beautifully this reads into the story. 76 00:05:51,660 --> 00:05:55,290 I think the first initial idea is very broad. 77 00:05:57,790 --> 00:06:00,080 You want the colors of the scene 78 00:06:00,170 --> 00:06:03,880 to support the words that are in the script. 79 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,220 The dirt, the drums, and the sea. 80 00:06:10,510 --> 00:06:12,970 The blue indigo of Africa 81 00:06:13,060 --> 00:06:17,350 and Kizzy's hair wrapped in this natural homespun cloth. 82 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:20,150 You can feel the color of the earth, 83 00:06:20,230 --> 00:06:23,110 whether it's red clay or brown. 84 00:06:23,190 --> 00:06:26,740 You can kind of really feel the richness of the scene. 85 00:06:27,780 --> 00:06:30,860 This is like the imagination part of the process. 86 00:06:42,380 --> 00:06:44,550 The script is just the beginning. 87 00:06:45,590 --> 00:06:47,800 I take that and I expound upon it. 88 00:06:51,390 --> 00:06:55,640 Right now, we're in the costume shop of our film Dolemite Is My Name, 89 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:57,220 starring Eddie Murphy. 90 00:06:58,350 --> 00:07:00,890 Dolemite is the story of Rudy Ray Moore. 91 00:07:01,100 --> 00:07:03,610 He was a comedian, 92 00:07:03,690 --> 00:07:07,360 and he created his own pimp character called Dolemite. 93 00:07:07,780 --> 00:07:09,650 Dolemite is my name, 94 00:07:09,740 --> 00:07:12,410 and fuckin' up motherfuckers is my game! 95 00:07:12,660 --> 00:07:13,660 Ooh! 96 00:07:14,530 --> 00:07:17,540 The '70s is such a personal time for me. 97 00:07:17,620 --> 00:07:19,460 It was when I was a teenager, 98 00:07:19,540 --> 00:07:22,290 and I remember a lot of things about it. 99 00:07:22,370 --> 00:07:26,840 So, I'm bringing all of that to the costumes of the movie. 100 00:07:28,010 --> 00:07:31,130 We knew that we were going to go really bold. 101 00:07:31,550 --> 00:07:36,510 All of our fabrics, and our linings, and our buttons, and our trims. 102 00:07:36,930 --> 00:07:39,310 And combine them in such a way 103 00:07:39,390 --> 00:07:41,770 where it would really tell this story 104 00:07:41,850 --> 00:07:44,270 of this larger-than-life character. 105 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,070 Then comes the nuts and bolts of, 106 00:07:50,150 --> 00:07:52,240 "What do these ideas really look like?" 107 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:56,450 and "How do I place them in front of me so that I can realize them?" 108 00:07:57,330 --> 00:07:59,870 There's lots of people that need to know what your vision is. 109 00:07:59,950 --> 00:08:02,830 And so, the mood boards help explain all of that. 110 00:08:03,830 --> 00:08:07,170 It's a hodgepodge of fabric swatches, 111 00:08:07,250 --> 00:08:09,340 magazine tear sheets, 112 00:08:09,420 --> 00:08:11,470 illustrations and sketches, 113 00:08:11,550 --> 00:08:13,720 photos from the original movie. 114 00:08:14,130 --> 00:08:16,090 Anything that gives us inspiration. 115 00:08:17,220 --> 00:08:19,520 Everything that Dolemite wore was custom. 116 00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:22,270 I don't wanna get in my car with this shit on. 117 00:08:22,350 --> 00:08:24,350 I'm glad y'all brought my clothes to me. 118 00:08:24,770 --> 00:08:30,070 This happened to be something close to what Dolomite actually wore. 119 00:08:30,530 --> 00:08:33,650 We'll never really know for sure what that mesh was. 120 00:08:33,740 --> 00:08:37,200 I'm thinking if Dolemite were to walk in here in that suit, 121 00:08:37,490 --> 00:08:40,120 he'd say, "Man, this is made out of chain mail." 122 00:08:40,370 --> 00:08:41,790 And I'd go, "What?" 123 00:08:42,250 --> 00:08:44,210 But this is kind of what we used. 124 00:08:44,290 --> 00:08:46,960 It's quieter than chain mail would have been. 125 00:08:47,460 --> 00:08:50,960 You know, once it's done, it becomes a wearable garment. 126 00:08:51,050 --> 00:08:52,880 And then, you get the actor in it, 127 00:08:52,970 --> 00:08:54,760 it's very rewarding. 128 00:08:59,140 --> 00:09:02,350 The fitting room is a transformation room. 129 00:09:03,350 --> 00:09:07,150 So you're gonna be in the pimp scene, so we've gotta get you right. 130 00:09:07,770 --> 00:09:10,980 Let's see you try on this shirt right here. This green one. 131 00:09:11,730 --> 00:09:15,780 She wants you to be comfortable in what you're wearing 132 00:09:15,860 --> 00:09:18,910 while you're doing your work, so that you can do your best work. 133 00:09:19,660 --> 00:09:21,580 He's putting on his pants. 134 00:09:22,580 --> 00:09:24,580 There are times I want to disappear, 135 00:09:24,660 --> 00:09:28,750 and there are times I wanna be the thing that you can't take your eyes off of. 136 00:09:28,830 --> 00:09:30,040 And she gets that. 137 00:09:30,340 --> 00:09:31,840 Turn around, let's see. 138 00:09:32,050 --> 00:09:32,920 Ooh. 139 00:09:33,010 --> 00:09:35,090 Transporting into the '70s. 140 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:38,970 When I put my costume on and I look at myself, 141 00:09:39,050 --> 00:09:40,600 then I've come to completion. 142 00:09:41,390 --> 00:09:43,770 Yes! There it is. 143 00:09:45,230 --> 00:09:47,190 I think that it's fascinating 144 00:09:47,270 --> 00:09:51,020 how the actor and the character kind of meld. 145 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:54,400 Yes, so now you got to stand with some attitude. 146 00:09:54,780 --> 00:09:55,780 There we go. 147 00:09:55,990 --> 00:09:58,860 And that's really your job, and that's what they want you to do. 148 00:09:58,950 --> 00:10:00,030 Collar out. 149 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:02,240 Done! 150 00:10:05,620 --> 00:10:08,000 I'm looking at things and how they can be better 151 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:09,540 and how they can change. 152 00:10:09,630 --> 00:10:13,050 It's like an artist on a painting. It's never finished. 153 00:10:13,380 --> 00:10:15,300 That's how I feel about all of my costumes. 154 00:10:16,470 --> 00:10:19,510 You have to see what you don't want sometimes to know what you want. 155 00:10:19,590 --> 00:10:22,640 And sometimes it's like, "Oh, my God! Wait a minute. 156 00:10:22,930 --> 00:10:26,180 Close your coat. Take your shirt out. Take it out. Hurry up, hurry up. 157 00:10:26,270 --> 00:10:27,730 How much time do I have?" 158 00:10:29,810 --> 00:10:31,980 - Marker! - Start blocking for rehearsal, guys. 159 00:10:32,060 --> 00:10:35,530 It's never done. Someone has to just, like, drag me away, 160 00:10:35,610 --> 00:10:38,650 kicking and screaming, and then they can roll the camera. 161 00:10:38,740 --> 00:10:40,860 - Go ahead. Mark rolling. - Rolling, rolling. 162 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:46,620 I really enjoy recreating the '70s. 163 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:48,750 The '70s was my era. 164 00:10:50,620 --> 00:10:54,590 Those years of high school, I was into drama. 165 00:10:54,670 --> 00:10:57,670 I just liked the performing arts a lot. 166 00:10:58,170 --> 00:11:02,640 By the time I went to college, I hung out in the theater department, 167 00:11:03,010 --> 00:11:04,760 and I was acting. 168 00:11:04,850 --> 00:11:08,180 I remember auditioning for Molière, The Would-Be Gentleman, 169 00:11:08,270 --> 00:11:10,730 and not making the audition. 170 00:11:11,060 --> 00:11:14,020 And the instructor saying, "Do you want to try doing the costumes?" 171 00:11:14,110 --> 00:11:15,190 So I said, "Okay." 172 00:11:16,230 --> 00:11:19,900 There was no specific study in costume design, 173 00:11:19,990 --> 00:11:22,700 but I knew how to navigate around the scripts. 174 00:11:22,950 --> 00:11:25,830 I went to the local fabric store, 175 00:11:25,910 --> 00:11:28,580 bought a bunch of fabric, got some patterns. 176 00:11:32,250 --> 00:11:36,130 That just snowballed into the next production after the next production. 177 00:11:36,210 --> 00:11:39,800 Before long, I was the costume designer on campus. 178 00:11:44,090 --> 00:11:46,510 Theater was my first love. 179 00:11:47,180 --> 00:11:50,060 Designing for theater is very different 180 00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:52,640 from designing for film. 181 00:11:54,980 --> 00:11:58,190 With theater, you view things from the audience 182 00:11:58,280 --> 00:11:59,610 when you're designing it. 183 00:12:03,070 --> 00:12:07,330 There is a certain amount of texture and color 184 00:12:07,410 --> 00:12:10,950 and things that you don't see the further away you get from it. 185 00:12:11,910 --> 00:12:16,250 So, we make things larger than life, patterns are sometimes bigger, 186 00:12:16,330 --> 00:12:20,630 so that things that you've done read from the audience. 187 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,930 But in film, because everything is blown up so large, 188 00:12:26,010 --> 00:12:30,430 things that make an impression are sometimes extreme details. 189 00:12:31,430 --> 00:12:34,390 But film was the last thing I was really thinking about, you know. 190 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:36,400 I was really trying to get a theater project. 191 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:40,110 In this very theater, 192 00:12:40,190 --> 00:12:43,740 I was, uh, designing the costumes for this dance company, 193 00:12:44,110 --> 00:12:48,740 and it was that show that introduced Spike to me. 194 00:12:50,410 --> 00:12:52,790 As a director, you have to be a talent scout. 195 00:12:52,870 --> 00:12:55,330 I was forming a team. Like, I was general manager. 196 00:12:56,120 --> 00:12:58,340 In sports, you know, puttin' my team together. 197 00:12:59,130 --> 00:13:00,550 So I needed a costume designer. 198 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,050 He sent me postcards, 199 00:13:04,130 --> 00:13:07,390 inviting me to screenings to see She's Gotta Have It. 200 00:13:08,090 --> 00:13:10,010 And I was like, "Nah, put it in the drawer. 201 00:13:10,100 --> 00:13:12,430 Another one from Spike, put it in the drawer." 202 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,520 Then my friend, who introduced me to him, called me and said... 203 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:18,610 "Spike brought his film She's Gotta Have It 204 00:13:18,690 --> 00:13:20,270 to the Cannes Film Festival." 205 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:21,820 And I was like, "What? 206 00:13:22,110 --> 00:13:24,690 Why didn't I answer one of those postcards?" 207 00:13:26,070 --> 00:13:29,990 Someone called me one morning at, like, five in the morning. 208 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,290 He said, "Ruth." It's like, "Yeah?" 209 00:13:32,410 --> 00:13:33,870 "Ruth?" "Yeah?" 210 00:13:33,950 --> 00:13:35,790 - "Ruth" - "Yeah?" 211 00:13:36,330 --> 00:13:38,080 "It's the man of your dreams." 212 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,090 I said, "Denzel?" 213 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:43,550 "No! This is Spike." 214 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,220 Do The Right Thing directive was 215 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:58,730 this film takes place on the hottest day of the summer. 216 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,020 Shorts, tank tops, 217 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:03,860 cut-off jeans. 218 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,280 I mean, even look at what Ruth had Rosie Perez wearing 219 00:14:07,360 --> 00:14:09,070 in the opening credits sequence. 220 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:11,580 All that stuff that Rosie's wearing while she's dancing, 221 00:14:11,660 --> 00:14:13,120 that's... that's Ruth Carter. 222 00:14:13,830 --> 00:14:15,080 Do The Right Thing is the film 223 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:18,750 that single-handedly made hip-hop fashion a thing. 224 00:14:19,080 --> 00:14:22,040 The reds, the blacks, the greens, the yellows, 225 00:14:22,130 --> 00:14:25,960 that are really mimicking various West African flags. 226 00:14:26,460 --> 00:14:29,130 It was very prevalent in Brooklyn 227 00:14:29,220 --> 00:14:33,390 to have a connection to your culture, and to Africa, 228 00:14:33,470 --> 00:14:35,430 and to wear kente shorts, 229 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:39,940 and to have necklaces with the continent of Africa. 230 00:14:40,020 --> 00:14:43,770 And we wanted to make these African crop tops 231 00:14:43,860 --> 00:14:45,780 and African shorts. 232 00:14:46,230 --> 00:14:52,320 We wanted to sort of show how pop culture responds to the inner city. 233 00:14:52,820 --> 00:14:55,290 She's using this vibrant color palette 234 00:14:55,370 --> 00:14:57,700 as a color palette of protest. 235 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:01,670 That's why the costumes in Do The Right Thing are so important, 236 00:15:01,750 --> 00:15:03,670 because they help us understand 237 00:15:03,750 --> 00:15:05,500 the politics of the space 238 00:15:05,590 --> 00:15:09,340 that most viewers in middle America had never really experienced. 239 00:15:10,260 --> 00:15:12,340 The moment when John Savage, 240 00:15:12,430 --> 00:15:15,680 wearing a Larry Bird Boston Celtics T-shirt, 241 00:15:15,970 --> 00:15:20,350 accidentally steps on Buggin' Out's new pristine Jordans? 242 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:21,560 Yo! 243 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:24,610 That's part of the culture. I mean, like... 244 00:15:24,690 --> 00:15:25,690 Yo! 245 00:15:26,150 --> 00:15:28,110 It's why that movie still persists 246 00:15:28,190 --> 00:15:30,110 as one of the most influential 247 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:33,320 films on race relations in 20th-century America. 248 00:15:34,660 --> 00:15:38,500 Hollywood wasn't used to the Spike Lees of the world. 249 00:15:38,580 --> 00:15:42,000 He wanted to show black people on camera, in cinema, 250 00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:45,130 in more of a realistic manner. 251 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,460 We didn't have images of ourselves 252 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:50,220 that were positive. 253 00:15:50,470 --> 00:15:52,630 I grew up looking at, um, 254 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,100 all of those old black-and-white films. 255 00:15:59,060 --> 00:16:01,480 Birth of a Nation was one of the first films. 256 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:06,730 And it was so derogatory towards African-Americans. 257 00:16:06,820 --> 00:16:09,860 There's this white man running around in blackface, 258 00:16:09,940 --> 00:16:14,820 and this woman screaming and running from him, like he's a beast. 259 00:16:15,990 --> 00:16:21,200 And, um, you know, other movies we were either tap dancing or serving someone. 260 00:16:21,790 --> 00:16:23,830 I think the '60s started to change that, 261 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:25,630 but it was very slow. 262 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:28,670 And we went through blaxploitation, 263 00:16:28,750 --> 00:16:31,920 where we were pimps, and drug dealers, and prostitutes. 264 00:16:32,420 --> 00:16:34,776 I've got ten of the finest hoes in the world working for me. 265 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,600 I'm gettin' a hundred dollars a day from each one. Okay? 266 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,940 We are tasked with the responsibility to rewrite that. 267 00:16:48,230 --> 00:16:50,980 I was raised in a small town, Springfield, Mass. 268 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,700 When I look around my old childhood library, 269 00:16:55,990 --> 00:16:59,780 it still feels like this place where I can come 270 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:04,910 and just lose myself in history, and poetry, 271 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,500 and just whatever it is that I'm trying to learn about. 272 00:17:09,590 --> 00:17:12,340 And the possibilities are just endless. 273 00:17:14,090 --> 00:17:17,510 This library happened to be across the street from my high school. 274 00:17:18,930 --> 00:17:20,180 This was the hooky spot. 275 00:17:21,930 --> 00:17:25,890 Nobody ever really questioned me for being in here. 276 00:17:27,150 --> 00:17:29,940 Even if it was two in the afternoon, I could be in the library. 277 00:17:31,110 --> 00:17:33,150 Just escaping. 278 00:17:34,190 --> 00:17:36,400 We always wanted to be conscious. 279 00:17:36,490 --> 00:17:40,830 So, reading about slavery or knowing about civil rights 280 00:17:40,910 --> 00:17:45,460 was an easy entry point for me as a young person. 281 00:17:47,750 --> 00:17:51,170 I like to feel like my costumes 282 00:17:51,250 --> 00:17:54,510 are supporting a greater story. 283 00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:58,680 The story of the times and the story of the person. 284 00:17:58,890 --> 00:18:03,930 And I like to feel that they have a breath to them. 285 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:10,310 It was a natural progression for me 286 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,730 to be on films that had me research. 287 00:18:15,190 --> 00:18:17,570 What were the colors of the time? 288 00:18:17,650 --> 00:18:20,370 What were the economics of the time? 289 00:18:21,070 --> 00:18:24,990 Once you understand the world that a character lives in, 290 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:29,210 you can support that part of the story with your design. 291 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:35,760 Malcolm X was the first film that I'd done that, um, 292 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:37,170 went through so many eras. 293 00:18:37,670 --> 00:18:39,340 He was so multi-faceted 294 00:18:39,430 --> 00:18:41,590 with all the things that he did in his life. 295 00:18:43,260 --> 00:18:46,470 Researching New York in the '40s was wonderful. 296 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,020 Harlem was alive, it was buzzing. 297 00:18:49,350 --> 00:18:53,940 And so you really wanted to bring in that sense of the heartbeat of Harlem. 298 00:18:55,150 --> 00:18:58,320 There were certain areas that were really broad. 299 00:18:58,570 --> 00:19:00,200 Those were the zoot suits. 300 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,030 Zoot suits were considered a hoodlum fashion. 301 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:04,120 Roseland! 302 00:19:04,910 --> 00:19:06,660 The dance sequence in the film. 303 00:19:06,740 --> 00:19:08,120 Those zoot suits. 304 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:09,910 That was... That was amazing. 305 00:19:10,750 --> 00:19:14,090 I researched exactly what the length of the coat was, 306 00:19:14,170 --> 00:19:16,380 how narrow the pant was, 307 00:19:16,670 --> 00:19:20,090 what kind of chains went around, what kind of pocket watch, 308 00:19:20,380 --> 00:19:22,140 how long the feather would be, 309 00:19:22,550 --> 00:19:24,970 so that we could really get a true sense 310 00:19:25,050 --> 00:19:27,970 of what a zoot suit looked and felt like to wear. 311 00:19:29,430 --> 00:19:32,350 From there, we took the journey 312 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,940 to his gangster days in the '40s and the '50s. 313 00:19:36,360 --> 00:19:39,440 And then we go from there to incarceration. 314 00:19:41,610 --> 00:19:43,660 I went to the Department of Correction 315 00:19:43,740 --> 00:19:47,450 and I asked them if I could see Malcolm X's files. 316 00:19:48,830 --> 00:19:51,040 I had medical records, 317 00:19:51,460 --> 00:19:53,210 his booking photo, 318 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,590 and I had quite a few letters that he had written. 319 00:19:58,090 --> 00:20:01,260 And I noticed how his penmanship changed 320 00:20:01,340 --> 00:20:05,010 and his grammar increased as he educated himself. 321 00:20:08,470 --> 00:20:11,560 When he came out of prison, he was humble. 322 00:20:12,390 --> 00:20:16,110 I connected to that moment with his costume. 323 00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:22,990 He was bent over in this rumpled, oversized suit. 324 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,120 He was not that cocky gangster anymore. 325 00:20:28,490 --> 00:20:32,080 I feel it's a big responsibility to dress these big iconic figures, 326 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:34,620 because people... know them. 327 00:20:34,710 --> 00:20:36,630 They feel endeared to them. 328 00:20:36,710 --> 00:20:41,130 You have to actually honor them with your artistry. 329 00:20:42,550 --> 00:20:44,300 Sometimes, when you watch a film, 330 00:20:44,380 --> 00:20:47,140 it's supposed to represent something real and true, 331 00:20:47,220 --> 00:20:50,140 but then you kind of only get the film version of it. 332 00:20:51,350 --> 00:20:54,440 She always makes a point to bring out the realness. 333 00:20:54,940 --> 00:20:57,360 The humanitarian aspect of her costume design, 334 00:20:57,440 --> 00:20:59,400 and the meticulousness of her choices 335 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:03,610 give the person that's being depicted this kind of dignity, 336 00:21:03,700 --> 00:21:06,490 where historically, you know, that was lacking that. 337 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:11,290 I looked at the cargo list that was on the real Amistad, 338 00:21:11,370 --> 00:21:15,210 and I saw that there were blankets and there was cloth. 339 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:21,090 You know, I felt like these were Africans that came from different communities. 340 00:21:21,460 --> 00:21:25,510 They would maybe cover their hair, wrap turbans. 341 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,800 As they arrived, they were brought to jail. 342 00:21:30,010 --> 00:21:34,480 We managed to keep the American flag kind of wrapped on one of the guys' heads, 343 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:37,480 as if he's unaware of what that means. 344 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:42,280 And in one of the writings of the Amistad case, 345 00:21:42,360 --> 00:21:45,990 it said that in the courtroom, they looked like doves. 346 00:21:46,450 --> 00:21:50,160 And so, I gave them all these clean white shirts 347 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,540 to sort of give them that dove-like appearance. 348 00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:04,510 You know, I don't like to rely on what my subconscious tells me 349 00:22:04,590 --> 00:22:08,010 because I think it's usually wrong. 350 00:22:09,930 --> 00:22:12,720 I love these, uh, runaway slave ads. 351 00:22:13,140 --> 00:22:15,180 Ten-dollar reward for Tabitha. 352 00:22:15,270 --> 00:22:18,350 "Tabitha is about five feet two or three inches high, 353 00:22:18,440 --> 00:22:20,900 dark yellow complexion, stout made, 354 00:22:20,980 --> 00:22:24,070 common head of hair, and about 20 years of age." 355 00:22:26,190 --> 00:22:28,110 I like the people that I read about. 356 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:33,370 And I really want to see them resurrected in some ways. 357 00:22:33,450 --> 00:22:39,370 So, I work really hard to try to get those details on, uh, an actor. 358 00:22:41,290 --> 00:22:43,630 I think that there hasn't been enough 359 00:22:43,710 --> 00:22:46,210 study of African-American history. 360 00:22:46,300 --> 00:22:50,300 And the way that we tell the stories 361 00:22:50,390 --> 00:22:52,760 sometimes is through movies. 362 00:22:52,850 --> 00:22:56,810 And it's important that we take responsibility for it and... 363 00:22:57,180 --> 00:22:58,480 and, um... 364 00:22:58,940 --> 00:23:02,060 bring to life, as best we can, the truth. 365 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,530 There's eight of us in my family. 366 00:23:12,030 --> 00:23:13,410 I'm the youngest. 367 00:23:14,580 --> 00:23:17,870 - Roy was three years older than me. - Yeah. I was working. 368 00:23:18,370 --> 00:23:21,000 I used to go in your room and you used to hate that. 369 00:23:21,080 --> 00:23:22,170 - Yeah. - Why? 370 00:23:22,250 --> 00:23:26,250 I still don't know why, to this day, Roy, why you hated me in your room. 371 00:23:26,340 --> 00:23:27,880 Because it was my stuff. 372 00:23:31,130 --> 00:23:32,640 Ma, what kind of kid was I? 373 00:23:33,300 --> 00:23:35,930 - A nice daughter. - Ah! I'm glad. 374 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:38,850 Ma used to drive us all to school, 375 00:23:38,930 --> 00:23:42,560 and then you'd drive up the hill to Springfield Technical Community College 376 00:23:42,650 --> 00:23:43,900 and go to your class. 377 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,610 I was puttin'... I was puttin' emphasis on education then. 378 00:23:47,690 --> 00:23:51,200 I wish I could have went to school a little longer. I like... 379 00:23:51,570 --> 00:23:53,030 I like school. 380 00:23:54,870 --> 00:23:59,200 The thing I believe that my mom instilled in me is this empathy, 381 00:23:59,290 --> 00:24:01,580 this great empathy for people. 382 00:24:02,500 --> 00:24:06,540 You know, because of the psychology that my mom studied 383 00:24:06,630 --> 00:24:08,710 and brought home every day, 384 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:15,260 I got to take a deep dive into why people are the way they are. 385 00:24:15,340 --> 00:24:19,430 You know, I'm grateful for her for teaching us that empathy. 386 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:24,730 That's probably why I see the things I see in characters. 387 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:31,400 This is the old machine that was in my room. 388 00:24:31,650 --> 00:24:33,780 By day, it was a desk, 389 00:24:33,990 --> 00:24:36,660 and, uh, by night, I guess, 390 00:24:36,740 --> 00:24:38,120 it was a sewing machine. 391 00:24:38,200 --> 00:24:39,240 It had a cool light. 392 00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:44,830 I also, when I left, I guess, for school, I wrote a sign. 393 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:48,040 So, while I was away, nobody would get rid of it. I... 394 00:24:48,130 --> 00:24:50,050 I was endeared to this machine. 395 00:24:50,130 --> 00:24:52,630 It says, "This machine belongs to Ruth E. Carter. 396 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,050 Do not throw it away, sell it, or keep it. 397 00:24:55,590 --> 00:24:57,050 Thank you. It's mine." 398 00:24:57,890 --> 00:25:02,100 I remember I sewed a big, fluffy, orange vest 399 00:25:02,180 --> 00:25:04,730 that I wore to one of my friends' parties. 400 00:25:04,810 --> 00:25:06,900 And she asked me, you know, "Did you make that?" 401 00:25:06,980 --> 00:25:08,190 And I said, "Yeah. 402 00:25:08,690 --> 00:25:09,690 I made it." 403 00:25:12,530 --> 00:25:17,620 I had a knack for creating stuff out of nothing. 404 00:25:22,200 --> 00:25:24,500 Going from junior high school to high school, 405 00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:27,710 I decided I wanted to be a Muslim. 406 00:25:29,420 --> 00:25:33,510 So, I took my pants and I opened them up and I made 'em into long skirts, 407 00:25:33,590 --> 00:25:35,260 and I covered my hair. 408 00:25:35,340 --> 00:25:37,640 And I started studying the Koran. 409 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,140 And people thought I was deep, you know? 410 00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:45,140 I'd do the little praying to the east, 411 00:25:45,230 --> 00:25:47,690 and people gave me a little distance, 412 00:25:47,770 --> 00:25:51,020 because I had a purpose and I had an aura. 413 00:25:52,860 --> 00:25:55,610 Eleventh grade, it all went out the window. 414 00:25:56,070 --> 00:25:58,700 I went to the other school that was up the street. 415 00:26:00,700 --> 00:26:05,910 I just remember going to this new high school with this totally new look. 416 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,960 High boots, and long gauchos, and a vest, 417 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:13,420 and blouses, and a briefcase. 418 00:26:14,380 --> 00:26:16,920 I remember a couple of kids in the hallway 419 00:26:17,010 --> 00:26:19,760 asking me if I was, like, a substitute teacher. 420 00:26:21,350 --> 00:26:22,180 Oh. 421 00:26:22,260 --> 00:26:24,270 You know, I was no longer the Muslim girl. 422 00:26:24,350 --> 00:26:27,020 I was the... you know, the businesswoman. 423 00:26:27,810 --> 00:26:31,440 And then, that way, I put on these personas. 424 00:26:32,860 --> 00:26:35,150 When we try on clothes in a store, 425 00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:39,450 we get excited because they're brand new and fresh. 426 00:26:39,860 --> 00:26:44,290 You walk out of the store with your new item in your shopping bag, 427 00:26:44,370 --> 00:26:48,290 and then you get home and you're like, "What was I thinking? 428 00:26:48,830 --> 00:26:51,460 This doesn't look at all like who I am." 429 00:26:51,540 --> 00:26:53,170 Or, "I feel silly." 430 00:26:54,340 --> 00:26:56,590 You're really talking about character. 431 00:27:01,970 --> 00:27:06,600 One of the ways I get ideas is to go out into the street 432 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:08,180 and observe people. 433 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,230 Especially when I'm in New York. 434 00:27:13,270 --> 00:27:15,570 I just love to go people-watching. 435 00:27:16,730 --> 00:27:18,690 I look at people's clothes, 436 00:27:19,360 --> 00:27:21,200 how they carry themselves, 437 00:27:22,030 --> 00:27:25,280 and I make up stories in my head about their lives, 438 00:27:25,370 --> 00:27:27,750 and it's all based on what I see. 439 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:32,920 These are the people that bring the ideas to my work. 440 00:27:36,250 --> 00:27:39,340 Clothing can tell you so much about a person. 441 00:27:41,340 --> 00:27:44,800 You know, if they're a mother, or if they're an artist. 442 00:27:46,100 --> 00:27:50,480 That informs you about what their footwear looks like. 443 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:52,440 The age of their clothes. 444 00:27:52,730 --> 00:27:56,570 The expense of their clothes. What's their economic status? 445 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:58,900 What do they care about? 446 00:28:00,070 --> 00:28:02,660 All those things work out on the clothes. 447 00:28:04,070 --> 00:28:05,990 It's part of a bigger picture. 448 00:28:18,550 --> 00:28:21,840 Maybe if we take a little bit less of the research 449 00:28:22,090 --> 00:28:26,010 and, uh, kind of create our own lines down the sides there. 450 00:28:27,140 --> 00:28:29,720 Once I have my ideas, I'll do a rough sketch 451 00:28:29,850 --> 00:28:34,020 and I'll take my ideas over to a digital illustrator. 452 00:28:34,690 --> 00:28:36,730 I think it needs to have a little bit of a train. 453 00:28:36,810 --> 00:28:39,070 - Okay. - We should probably add a train to it. 454 00:28:39,150 --> 00:28:40,900 If we get a little bit more dramatic there 455 00:28:40,990 --> 00:28:44,700 and then add some more of the elements of the shield. 456 00:28:45,110 --> 00:28:48,330 It's up to you to kind of inform them about detail. 457 00:28:48,620 --> 00:28:51,700 That's the great part, because they're really wonderful artists. 458 00:28:51,790 --> 00:28:54,290 And they make you look really good. 459 00:28:54,870 --> 00:28:56,630 It's a very collaborative process 460 00:28:56,710 --> 00:28:59,170 in which we're able to work, but also back up the designer 461 00:28:59,250 --> 00:29:01,840 to figure out what's going on in... in their head, 462 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:04,260 and try and get it out to everybody else. 463 00:29:05,130 --> 00:29:08,050 - Which is, uh, an art form all in itself. - Yeah. 464 00:29:09,350 --> 00:29:12,100 Are you trying to say that there's a lot in my head? 465 00:29:12,430 --> 00:29:13,430 Mmm, yeah. 466 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:19,020 - And I got to get it out of there. - Uh-huh, yeah. I help. I help. 467 00:29:19,110 --> 00:29:20,020 A lot. 468 00:29:20,110 --> 00:29:22,490 Beauty is a subjective thing. 469 00:29:22,570 --> 00:29:26,780 I need it to look like what I'm feeling in my soul. 470 00:29:26,860 --> 00:29:30,490 And when it doesn't feel that way, we have to change it. 471 00:29:34,620 --> 00:29:39,790 For us, as artists, we have to create this into a design that's wearable. 472 00:29:39,880 --> 00:29:41,340 It's wearable art. 473 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:46,680 You have to be able to foresee what the problems could possibly be 474 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:49,350 with the materials that you chose. 475 00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:53,600 It can be really scary, because time is money 476 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:56,770 and you don't want to go down the wrong road. 477 00:29:57,520 --> 00:29:59,310 There's so many details to the vision. 478 00:29:59,900 --> 00:30:03,070 And the bigger the project, the more challenging it gets. 479 00:30:10,410 --> 00:30:12,660 Any time you have to create a world, 480 00:30:12,740 --> 00:30:15,790 it's a huge, monumental task. 481 00:30:18,580 --> 00:30:21,590 When people say, "Wow, she designed the Black Panther. 482 00:30:21,670 --> 00:30:23,250 Tell me how your process is." 483 00:30:23,340 --> 00:30:26,670 I'm like, "Oh, yeah! I go home and cry in my pillow every night 484 00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:28,220 because I'm scared." 485 00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:35,640 I think it was because of the level of stress, the level of responsibility. 486 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:39,060 You know, I hadn't done a superhero film before. 487 00:30:39,980 --> 00:30:43,440 In a film like Panther, it's as complex as it can get. 488 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:46,990 But, uh, I'm a football player. Man, like, you know, I came up playing football. 489 00:30:47,070 --> 00:30:48,530 We would call somebody like Ruth... 490 00:30:48,610 --> 00:30:50,450 um, like, we said they had good footwork. 491 00:30:50,530 --> 00:30:52,090 Kind of light-footed. Know what I mean? 492 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,620 Like, she's able to transition in ways that it's almost seamless. You know? 493 00:30:57,620 --> 00:31:02,670 Before the Black Panther, I had small exercises in fantasy 494 00:31:02,750 --> 00:31:04,500 and futuristic ideas. 495 00:31:08,630 --> 00:31:13,640 And one thing that I did o research what would be the future 496 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:15,310 was to look at the past. 497 00:31:16,220 --> 00:31:19,060 Which is what I also did with Black Panther, 498 00:31:19,140 --> 00:31:22,440 looking at the ancient indigenous tribes around Africa. 499 00:31:22,770 --> 00:31:28,070 And Africa being this vast resource of artistic ideas, 500 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:32,070 it's kind of fun to sort of reimagine things. 501 00:31:33,410 --> 00:31:35,830 Clothing, you know, it's a form of expression. 502 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,460 When you see people in a film, that's the first thing, usually, 503 00:31:39,540 --> 00:31:41,790 that you get out of them, it's what they're wearing. 504 00:31:41,870 --> 00:31:43,030 You're not thinkin' about it. 505 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:45,710 You're waitin' for them to talk or for them to do a action 506 00:31:45,790 --> 00:31:47,500 that's gonna tell you something about them. 507 00:31:47,590 --> 00:31:49,510 But... but, you know, that first impression 508 00:31:49,590 --> 00:31:50,670 is what they have on. 509 00:31:51,630 --> 00:31:53,180 When you meet Killmonger in this film, 510 00:31:53,260 --> 00:31:55,820 you know, as soon as you see him, you get a little bit of a read. 511 00:31:55,850 --> 00:31:56,680 Good morning. 512 00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:58,220 He's wearing western clothing. 513 00:31:58,310 --> 00:32:00,110 He's got the denim jacket on with the black... 514 00:32:00,140 --> 00:32:02,190 It feels contemporary, of the moment. Um... 515 00:32:02,270 --> 00:32:03,940 You kind of clocking all those things. 516 00:32:04,020 --> 00:32:07,150 And I think when it's... when it's working at its best, 517 00:32:07,230 --> 00:32:09,400 you know, costume is... is... is giving you information 518 00:32:09,490 --> 00:32:10,780 about the character 519 00:32:10,860 --> 00:32:12,740 in a way that serves as a story. 520 00:32:18,700 --> 00:32:20,160 When can we get this done? 521 00:32:20,250 --> 00:32:22,160 You can pick any fabric 522 00:32:22,250 --> 00:32:24,420 and they'll make up anything that you want. 523 00:32:25,420 --> 00:32:30,210 African fabrics are actually brought to Africa by the Dutch. 524 00:32:30,300 --> 00:32:34,010 And since we were trying to imagine Wakanda before it was colonized, 525 00:32:34,090 --> 00:32:36,850 we tried to create our own patterns and things. 526 00:32:36,930 --> 00:32:38,510 And then, I mixed in a lot of this, 527 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:40,430 so, for the color and... 528 00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:41,930 You know, this says Africa. 529 00:32:42,730 --> 00:32:44,940 So, regardless, it does say Africa. 530 00:32:45,650 --> 00:32:48,860 But I was very careful about where I used it. 531 00:32:49,610 --> 00:32:52,320 These are from Mali, the Tuareg. 532 00:32:52,820 --> 00:32:56,070 These are mostly, like, around South Africa, the amber. 533 00:32:56,160 --> 00:32:57,240 They use a lot of it. 534 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,700 We came to places like this to purchase a lot of pieces we used 535 00:33:01,790 --> 00:33:03,120 in the Warrior Falls. 536 00:33:06,580 --> 00:33:09,880 A big theme for me was his concept of what it means to be African 537 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,050 and how colonization has affected that. 538 00:33:12,130 --> 00:33:14,760 You know, we wanted to really define the ethnic groups of Wakanda. 539 00:33:15,050 --> 00:33:17,470 You know, and kind of steep them in real... 540 00:33:17,550 --> 00:33:19,600 you know, real ethnic groups from the continent. 541 00:33:22,020 --> 00:33:25,230 The Dora Milaje was the fan favorite. 542 00:33:28,650 --> 00:33:31,360 There were so many things in that costume 543 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:33,360 that had significance to Africa 544 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:39,030 and to creating them as the highest ranking female fighting force of Wakanda. 545 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:45,080 The printing of their bodysuit has this special raised print 546 00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:46,960 to look like scarification. 547 00:33:47,420 --> 00:33:52,210 Their neck rings and arm rings were taken from the Ndebele tribe of South Africa. 548 00:33:52,300 --> 00:33:56,050 And the overall color of red was taken from the Maasai 549 00:33:56,130 --> 00:33:58,090 and many other tribes of Africa. 550 00:33:59,180 --> 00:34:03,060 On the tabard, there are small, uh, trinkets. 551 00:34:03,140 --> 00:34:07,690 And these trinkets represented what tribe they hailed from. 552 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:09,900 I kind of added that, 553 00:34:09,980 --> 00:34:11,690 so that each of the Dora 554 00:34:11,770 --> 00:34:15,030 would have something that individualized them. 555 00:34:16,110 --> 00:34:17,570 You want it to feel real. 556 00:34:17,650 --> 00:34:21,370 You want it to portray a certain amount of dignity and cultural specificity. 557 00:34:21,450 --> 00:34:24,750 And some of it, you're pulling from real people that exist in the world, 558 00:34:24,830 --> 00:34:27,040 and other bits of it, you're kind of totally inventing. 559 00:34:28,460 --> 00:34:32,840 We were able to infuse cultural and African diaspora 560 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:36,510 with the realm of fantasy and future, 561 00:34:36,590 --> 00:34:40,930 and keep it within the realm of what the fans knew about Black Panther. 562 00:34:42,430 --> 00:34:45,100 And we needed, like... We, the black folks, 563 00:34:45,180 --> 00:34:48,560 needed a movie like that where there were black heroes. 564 00:34:49,190 --> 00:34:53,020 It's still kind of, you know, inspiring, especially for young kids. 565 00:34:54,230 --> 00:34:57,240 The Black Panther stands alongside 566 00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:00,320 many films that were addressing 567 00:35:00,410 --> 00:35:03,910 those issues of dispelling negative stereotypes 568 00:35:03,990 --> 00:35:05,870 and moving the culture forward. 569 00:35:19,470 --> 00:35:22,390 As much as I love being a designer, 570 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:25,430 there are sacrifices that come along with it. 571 00:35:26,520 --> 00:35:29,640 You are traveling three months in one city, 572 00:35:29,730 --> 00:35:32,150 and then you're back in another. 573 00:35:33,020 --> 00:35:38,190 And so, it's really hard to cultivate long-standing relationships. 574 00:35:40,650 --> 00:35:43,490 I met my husband in a hair salon. 575 00:35:44,070 --> 00:35:46,450 Mario Jackson. 576 00:35:47,540 --> 00:35:49,410 Snag was his nickname. 577 00:35:50,620 --> 00:35:51,620 His street name. 578 00:35:54,500 --> 00:35:59,050 When I first met my husband, I didn't know he had gang affiliations. 579 00:36:00,300 --> 00:36:03,840 He was charming, he was witty, he was funny. 580 00:36:03,930 --> 00:36:07,720 He was a regular guy, but, you know, he grew up in the Crips. 581 00:36:08,060 --> 00:36:12,020 And as an adult, uh, it's something that just kind of never leaves you. 582 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:22,740 On Baby Boy, he told me everything. 583 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:24,620 Some nice shoes. 584 00:36:24,700 --> 00:36:27,450 How they would wear the Stacy Adams, 585 00:36:27,530 --> 00:36:30,000 how they would crease their pants, 586 00:36:30,500 --> 00:36:33,500 what type of Wrangler jeans would be worn, 587 00:36:33,580 --> 00:36:36,630 how the T-shirt would fit at the neck, 588 00:36:36,710 --> 00:36:39,050 what sizes I should buy, 589 00:36:39,130 --> 00:36:41,380 what kinds of belts I should buy, 590 00:36:41,470 --> 00:36:43,840 what a Romeo was, 591 00:36:43,930 --> 00:36:46,050 where I should go and buy them. 592 00:36:47,890 --> 00:36:52,390 All of those terms were defined for me right there in my own house. 593 00:36:54,730 --> 00:36:58,190 You know, it wasn't easy being married to Snag. 594 00:36:59,900 --> 00:37:02,400 He didn't invite that world into our home, 595 00:37:02,780 --> 00:37:06,160 um, but he did, uh, keep an active group of friends 596 00:37:06,240 --> 00:37:10,410 that came from there that he knew all of his life. 597 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:19,340 That day, he was going out to meet some friends. 598 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,300 I remember standing in the driveway as he was leaving, 599 00:37:23,380 --> 00:37:26,680 and then he stopped before he got in the car 600 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:30,350 and he came back up the driveway and he gave me a kiss, 601 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:32,100 and then he drove off. 602 00:37:33,930 --> 00:37:35,690 That was the last time I saw him. 603 00:37:40,860 --> 00:37:45,610 That day, I went and got a canvas. I was going to paint in the backyard. 604 00:37:48,030 --> 00:37:52,580 I saw this picture of this woman with her hands outstretched, looking up. 605 00:37:52,660 --> 00:37:57,870 I started painting this canvas and just kind of getting into the subject. 606 00:38:03,170 --> 00:38:04,920 It was, like, ten o'clock at night, 607 00:38:06,170 --> 00:38:08,290 and I thought, "Well, yeah, I haven't heard from him." 608 00:38:10,010 --> 00:38:12,310 Someone called me and they said, "Oh, Ruth." 609 00:38:14,930 --> 00:38:18,060 And the way they said, "Oh, Ruth," I... 610 00:38:19,150 --> 00:38:20,190 kind of knew. 611 00:38:21,860 --> 00:38:26,820 They were watching a boxing match in a respectable bar. 612 00:38:27,490 --> 00:38:30,320 Remaining undefeated... 613 00:38:32,620 --> 00:38:34,410 And the guy came in, 614 00:38:34,950 --> 00:38:36,200 he pulled a gun out, 615 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:38,960 killed my husband's best friend, 616 00:38:39,370 --> 00:38:41,750 and then shot my husband seven times. 617 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:47,220 Basically, out of jealousy, 618 00:38:47,510 --> 00:38:49,510 because he had changed his life 619 00:38:49,970 --> 00:38:51,430 and moved on. 620 00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:56,680 My feet just weighed a ton. 621 00:38:58,100 --> 00:39:01,480 My feet were like cinder blocks. 622 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:05,440 I could barely pick my feet up to walk in there. 623 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:11,160 I know it sounds strange, 624 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:13,660 but after that happened 625 00:39:13,740 --> 00:39:16,040 and he was freed, 626 00:39:16,660 --> 00:39:17,950 it freed me, too. 627 00:39:18,540 --> 00:39:21,000 And I didn't have the weight of his life anymore. 628 00:39:22,330 --> 00:39:25,210 You know, that's when life began for me again. 629 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:45,980 I had been searching for a spiritual practice. 630 00:39:46,070 --> 00:39:48,610 Going to church never connected. 631 00:39:48,690 --> 00:39:52,110 Doing meditation just wasn't enough. 632 00:39:53,620 --> 00:39:55,620 And then, Oprah was on set one day. 633 00:39:57,160 --> 00:40:01,580 We were in the middle of Louisiana, in the bayou, 634 00:40:01,670 --> 00:40:03,210 way out somewhere. 635 00:40:03,460 --> 00:40:06,210 And she just said, "You know, art is prayer. 636 00:40:06,550 --> 00:40:08,670 It's just God speaking through you." 637 00:40:10,050 --> 00:40:12,220 And that just hit me like a ton of bricks. 638 00:40:14,050 --> 00:40:18,060 Because I was like, "Wow! Did she just say art is prayer? Like... 639 00:40:18,390 --> 00:40:20,100 I can totally see that." 640 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:24,310 When you zone out on something that you're working on, 641 00:40:24,810 --> 00:40:26,440 it's creative, 642 00:40:26,690 --> 00:40:28,610 it's imaginative, 643 00:40:28,860 --> 00:40:30,610 it's restorative. 644 00:40:31,490 --> 00:40:33,280 Why wouldn't it be prayer? 645 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,450 I'm gonna take me seriously. 646 00:40:40,790 --> 00:40:41,790 Now. 647 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,830 I have taken school, 648 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:48,340 parents, friends, poets seriously. 649 00:40:48,420 --> 00:40:51,840 I've known the cracker to be seriously dangerous. 650 00:40:52,260 --> 00:40:56,390 I've taken daytime, nighttime rhetoric seriously, 651 00:40:56,470 --> 00:41:00,970 and been wounded by lovers of slick, black rapping. 652 00:41:01,220 --> 00:41:04,900 I'm gonna look in a mirror each time I pass one 653 00:41:04,980 --> 00:41:09,570 and smile at my image, sayin', "Yeah, sister, it ain't easy, 654 00:41:09,940 --> 00:41:12,320 but move beautifully on past it. 655 00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:14,490 Keep holdin' your head higher, 656 00:41:14,570 --> 00:41:16,820 'cause your best is yet to come." 657 00:41:17,240 --> 00:41:19,080 I'm gonna take me seriously. 658 00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:20,830 Today. Now. 659 00:41:20,910 --> 00:41:22,200 And study myself. 660 00:41:22,290 --> 00:41:25,000 Get a PhD in Ruth Carter 661 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:27,920 and dare anyone to be an authority on me. 662 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,380 'Cause I'll be wounded with Ruth's beauty, 663 00:41:31,670 --> 00:41:32,590 learning, 664 00:41:32,670 --> 00:41:33,590 love, 665 00:41:33,670 --> 00:41:35,680 and will be dangerous. 666 00:41:35,760 --> 00:41:38,930 I'm gonna be serious about me 667 00:41:39,010 --> 00:41:40,640 and live. 668 00:41:46,730 --> 00:41:47,730 Yeah. 669 00:41:53,490 --> 00:41:55,450 There's a little bit of a dust on his... 670 00:41:55,530 --> 00:41:57,160 right there on his shoulder. 671 00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:01,700 So, you might want to help her, because the collar is a little off center. 672 00:42:01,790 --> 00:42:04,120 Okay, let's... let's move on to the trench coats. 673 00:42:04,200 --> 00:42:05,830 How are we gonna do that? 674 00:42:07,670 --> 00:42:11,170 Black Panther put everything that I've ever done on a pedestal. 675 00:42:12,050 --> 00:42:16,550 And I think that's really nice, to be able to re-introduce your work. 676 00:42:19,220 --> 00:42:21,600 Just look at it as a body of work, now. 677 00:42:34,570 --> 00:42:38,320 This is the first time I've ever seen all those costumes together in one room. 678 00:42:43,660 --> 00:42:46,080 This is great. This is really great. 679 00:42:48,540 --> 00:42:51,380 A lot of great, great memories here. 680 00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:56,670 A lot of really, really important work. 681 00:42:57,260 --> 00:43:01,470 And a lot of great times with a lot of great people. 682 00:43:06,180 --> 00:43:10,480 It's very interesting that people are just now kind of catching on to Ruth. 683 00:43:11,940 --> 00:43:14,221 Her work has this presence of, like, "Oh, my God!" Like... 684 00:43:14,270 --> 00:43:17,690 You mean, like, one of those Picasso type of... You know what I mean? Like it's... 685 00:43:17,780 --> 00:43:20,490 Her legacy's, like, so, so much bigger than she is. 686 00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:25,450 We've seen this woman, over the course of her career, 687 00:43:25,540 --> 00:43:30,500 learn how to bring that humanity, that emotionality 688 00:43:30,580 --> 00:43:32,330 to life through her clothes 689 00:43:32,420 --> 00:43:35,670 in a way that is not only historically accurate, 690 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,340 but that can imagine possibilities for black lives 691 00:43:39,420 --> 00:43:42,430 that the history books have told us wasn't possible. 692 00:43:43,470 --> 00:43:46,470 We go to the movies to be entertained 693 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:48,810 and to be educated in some ways. 694 00:43:49,770 --> 00:43:52,440 So, it's a big part of our culture. It... 695 00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:54,770 It stamps our place in time. 696 00:43:55,650 --> 00:43:59,820 If I am tasked with this great responsibility 697 00:43:59,900 --> 00:44:02,660 of dressing a culture, 698 00:44:02,740 --> 00:44:05,410 I want to spur it even further 699 00:44:05,490 --> 00:44:07,910 than people have done in the past. 700 00:44:13,380 --> 00:44:16,750 I am so overwhelmed with joy. 701 00:44:17,380 --> 00:44:19,920 Ladies and gentlemen, we made it. 702 00:44:20,010 --> 00:44:23,300 Can you believe this night is finally here? 703 00:44:34,730 --> 00:44:36,060 When I look back, 704 00:44:36,360 --> 00:44:41,110 I see a little bit of a different me with each film. 705 00:44:45,530 --> 00:44:47,080 It feels like I am here. 706 00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:50,950 That I have connected to... 707 00:44:51,500 --> 00:44:52,660 my voice.