‘Black Panther’ takes over New York Fashion Week

Marvel Studios sponsored a small Black Panther”-inspired presentation, Welcome to Wakanda, on Monday featuring designs by LaQuan Smith, Chromat, Wale Oyejide of the brand Ikire Jones, Fear of God and others, including the jewellery of Douriean Fletcher in a capsule collection.

Among Fletcher’s work in the highly anticipated film that opens on Friday is a bold amethyst and 18-karat gold plate piece at the top of a costume worn by Angela Bassett’s Queen Ramonda. It’s featured in one of the movie’s posters. Fletcher also hand pounded gold-plate armour pieces for the female warriors of the Dora Milaje.

“I wanted it to resonate with the idea of female empowerment, women that are strong,” he said. “I wanted to do something that was sexy and powerful and aggressive because there’s a lot of technology in the film.”

Oyejide did a men’s suit with a coat and scarf. One of his scarves made it into the movie, which he said shows off the nuances of people of colour.

“The film is very much about the joy of seeing cultures represented in roles that they are generally not seen in,” he said. “There’s villainy and heroes, tech genius and romance. People of colour are generally presented as a monolithic image. I’m hoping it smashes the door open to show that people can occupy all these spaces.”

Cushnie et Ochs, Sophie Theallet and TOME were the other brands invited to participate. Like Fletcher, footwear designer Aurora James was asked to produce a small capsule collection.