3D printed costumes used in Black Panther

Black Panther the recent Marvel hit movie has reached a new milestone by being the latest movie to gross more than billion dollars at the world wide box office. The success of the film has brought so much scope and inspiration to many around the world. One of the main highlights of the movie was the costume worn by the actors especially the Wakanda Queen, Ramonda. It is exciting to know that some of the film’s stunning costumes were 3D printed.

The manufacturing of the costumes involved 3D printing to combine the both traditional African design and the futuristic elements of the Wakanda civilisation. Julia Koerner, an architect and 3D printing fashion specialist, helped Ruth E. Carter, a costume designer, to integrate 3D printing into the costumes especially of those of Queen Ramonda.

The use of 3D printing in movies especially for costumes and accessories for characters has been popular in recent times. The use of 3D printing makes it easier to create personalised objects more quickly, efficiently and most importantly at lower costs while allowing simple and complex designs to be printed at the same time. Recently we saw Stranger Things, Netflix hit show, turned to 3D printing to create Demogorgon. For Black Panther it was a case of capturing traditional African influences in a hypermodern context, one where nature and technology are intertwined, to create the costumes that will represent the fantasy world of Wakanda, an objective that is not easy to achieve.