Teyana Taylor, Angela Bassett and Danai Gurira turn Vogue World into Wakanda with Black Panther tribute

Teyana Taylor, Angela Bassett, and Danai Gurira celebrate Ruth E. Carter’s talent and “Black Panther’s” impact at Vogue World Hollywood.

Wakanda is, in fact, forever. Seven years after its premiere, the “Black Panther” movie’s cultural impact still reverberates through society today. This week, it resurfaced in the fashion world during Vogue’s annual “Vogue World” event. 

Angela Bassett and Danai Gurira reprised their roles from “Black Panther” during “Vogue World: Hollywood” over the weekend during the Afrofuturism section of the show. Wearing the original costumes designed by Oscar-award-winning designer Ruth E. Carter, the show celebrated how artists have paid homage to African garments and culture in films. 

“Costume designing is about world-building,” Carter said in an interview with Vogue.

Recalling the moment when the late actor Chadwick Boseman, who played T’Challa—thee Black Panther—first put on the costume for the movie, Cater describes it as “majestic. It had the power of whatever it is that lives inside people when they see a superhero.”

In addition to Bassett stepping back into the role as Queen Ramonda and Guirira as Okoye, multi-hyphenate Teyana Taylor also appeared in the “Black Panther” tribute as a new edition of the Doja Milaje, the cinematic universe’s all-female military group. 

Taylor, Bassett, and Gurira’s runway reigniting of the Wakanda Forever flame comes months after Reginald Hudlin released “Black Panther Omnibus,” which takes readers back into the fictional world with new storylines that reflect some of the issues we see in the real world. 

“They’re the global leaders, not only with technology, but morally,” Hudlin told theGrio, reflecting on the fictional world. “They were warriors that could never successfully be invaded. And that’s what I really wanted to emphasize when I started writing the book—to understand the man, you have to understand the land.” 

Beyond adding unprecedented diversity to the Marvel universe, Hudlin says “Black Panther’s” storylines were created to help Black communities, especially children and young Black boys, to see their power. 

“You can be great in a lot of different ways, but here’s all this greatness to inspire Black men to inspire Black women, because you don’t get great Black men without great Black women raising them,” Hudlin exclusively told theGrio. “‘Black Panther’ was another attempt to put another option on the wavelength of our culture. Like, here’s all the things we can be. Don’t be afraid to dream.”