17 Photos That Show How 'Black Panther' Is Empowering Women to Embrace Their Blackness
For weeks leading up, women of color have been eagerly awaiting the opening night of Black Panther. One look at Twitter says it all: Not only has the film already become the year's most tweeted-about movie, with 5 million posts and counting, the messages behind them signify just how monumental it is to see a different kind of beauty standard represented in a superhero film.
The idea that there’s no one way to portray blackness may seem obvious, but American movies haven’t always done an incredible job of realizing the concept. Women of color are typically seen wearing westernized hairstyles, straightened into the silky soft waves many of us have come to associate with celebrity beauty. Instead, the looks in Black Panther have been encouraging women to head to the theaters in 'fros, braids, and headwraps—styles that were embraced throughout the film.
"I designed the hair in Black Panther in three parts," hairstylist Camille Friend, who created the looks for the film, tells Glamour. "The first component is traditional Africa: the traditional looks of Africa, the traditional hair, the traditional wardrobe, the texture, the fibers of Africa. I looked at all those things to see what we could draw from. The second aspect was the modern part, which is the natural hair movement that's happening right now. [Men and women of color] don’t want chemicals or relaxers. People are moving back to the natural element of their hair." The third, she says, ties back to AfroPunk culture and the film's technologically advanced society. "I love the AfroPunk movement," says Friend. "They're people of free spirit. They use hair color and different clothing [to symbolize] being free."
And so, as the beginning of an opening weekend that's already broken records kicked off, Glamour went to Harlem's Magic Johnson Theater to see how women are participating in this celebration of heritage. From the support of black-owned fashion brands to Princess Shuri-inspired makeup, this weekend's many looks are only a small representation of how significant this moment is.
Reporting by Melissa Bunni Elian