The example of traditional clothing given a new application that springs to mind are the costume designs for Black Panther. The Costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, created new designs for the Wakanda costumes, but she carefully and meticulously selected elements of traditional and contemporary African fashions to add to it. She drew from multiple ethnic sources to create fashions that informed the audience about the diversity of tribes who populate the Wakanda nation. This is a shining example of tradition being used in respectful way.
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| How Black Panther Designer Found Inspiration: PBS |
One instance of this is the costumes for the Border Tribe. This was the tribe with the blue blankets that created energy shields. The border tribe blankets are based on the Basotho blankets of the Lesotho. The original blankets have important cultural tradition and signify rites of passage and life events. The purpose of the blanket is told in the design printed on it. If Carter had created the Border Tribe blankets without sufficient research she could have not only performed an offensive act but also become internet infamous. Imagine all the bad ass Border Tribe warriors fighting in blankets with a design signifying that they had just given birth to their first child. But instead the designs of all the costumes were widely received as inspired and respectful.