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The Hollywood Black Panther premiere red carpet was just a taste of what to expect when the film hits theaters on February 16. Days ahead of the big release, The Cut caught up with the head of the film’s hair department, Camille Friend, who dished the goods on creating Black excellence for one of the biggest moments in Marvel Cinematic Universe history. From Michael B. Jordan’s robust locs to how the team drew inspiration from the Afropunk movement, we’ve gathered a few highlights to further fuel your anticipation.
On Black Panther‘s Overall Creative Direction:
“There were three parts. For the ‘traditional’ look, we used inspiration from the Zulu tribe, the Maasai tribe, and the Hima tribe. Then we looked at the modern styles in the natural hair movement. Finally we looked at the Afropunk movement, which has a lot of natural and creative styling. Also, there are five tribes in the story, and we had to create different looks for each tribe.”
On Michael B. Jordan’s Bold Locs
“We wanted to give him a look that you’ve never seen before, and since he is the villain in this story, we wanted him to look strong and bold. He grew out his hair because we didn’t know what we wanted to do with his hair, at first. We eventually decided that we wanted to dreadlock it and keep the sides faded and really short. It’s a great look and he’s really sexy. We added extensions to it, but he did start out with a good amount of hair, and that’s why it looks so natural.”
On Working On An All-Natural Set:
“I don’t think Black hair has ever been seen in a movie like this. It was an honor to do it and to have an open form to design and take hairstyling to the next level. That’s what we accomplished; we had a great crew and we worked really hard.”
Read The Cut‘s full interview here.
