Adidas creates bespoke costumes for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Sportswear giant Adidas has created bespoke costumes and footwear for characters in the highly anticipated Marvel film ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ hitting cinemas this weekend.

Adidas' innovation and design teams led largely by female and BIPOC designers, including alumni of the brand’s S.E.E.D. programme, joined forces with Marvel Studios to create costumes for characters Shuri, Okoye, and Riri under the guidance of the film’s Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter.

There were seven unique costumes created, featuring both apparel and footwear, explains Adidas, with each individual look taking inspiration from the character’s personality. The costumes featured in the film include four ‘Lab Looks’ and two ‘Flight Suit’ costumes for Shuri, and a ‘Knit Look’ and ‘Tech Fit’ look for Okoye.

Alongside the apparel, Adidas created footwear to reflect the futuristic environment of Wakanda, playing into the functional aspect and individual storylines within the film. Commenting on the collaboration, Ruth E. Carter, said in a statement: “Adidas has been a part of hip hop and black culture and fashion since the 80s. To work with the Adidas design team to bring our visions to life for the Wakanda Forever costumes was an exciting and wonderful collaboration.

“I was invited to experience some of Adidas’ most futuristic technologies and given the opportunity to decide which innovations we would use within the outfits that would best reflect the environments of Wakanda. Myself and the Marvel team had a clear idea on what we wanted to achieve before we started working on the costumes for the film. Together, with Adidas, our ideas were able to evolve in imaginative ways until we ended up with the inspired breath-taking outfits that you can see throughout the film.”

Emily Jagos, innovation design director at Adidas, added: “We want our work on these costumes and footwear to be remembered for their inventive take on functional innovation, and how they help tell the story of each scene they feature in. The most unique thing about these pieces are their connection to sport and performance; the women wearing them in the film play such powerful characters, and the connection between their outfits and performances innovations with the brand is really special.”

The costumes will feature in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ in cinemas worldwide from November 11.