Eddie Murphy's return to screens as Prince Akeem in Coming 2 America is receiving mixed reviews, but few can dispute the sumptuousness of the costumes that appear in Amazon's sequel to the 1998 cult classic.
To bring the film’s distinct aesthetic to life, its Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E Carter collaborated with celebrated Indian couturier, JJ Valaya, who create a series of special pieces for the film.
In a major coup for Indian fashion and craftsmanship, Valaya was responsible for creating 18 of the outfits worn by the film's star-studded cast, which includes Murphy, Shari Headley and Arsenio Hall. The initial designs were created by Carter, who won an Oscar for her work on Black Panther, and then reinterpreted by Valaya using his signature prints and embroideries. It is the first collaboration of its kind with a designer from India.
“The costumes, ranging from gowns and capes to various items of menswear, have been created with strong undertones of African society, and are replete with bold colours, textures, patterns and interesting silhouettes, and the much-celebrated intricate JJ Valaya embroideries … all of which has been used to bring alive this period drama,” says Valaya, who admits to being a big fan of the original film.
The famed designer commented on the difference between creating outfits for a film, as opposed to a standard collection, and the need to fully immerse oneself in the plot, setting and characters. He also noted that “the styles and silhouettes for a movie revolve around a storyline and the director’s vision, followed then by the DNA of the character in the film... all of which has to eventually translate into a visual drama”.
The collaboration is all the more remarkable given that Valaya took a two-year hiatus from the world of fashion in 2017, after 25 years in the industry.
“I thought that everybody was doing the same thing and they were not doing it well,” says Valaya, who is widely regarded as one of the founding fathers of Indian fashion.
“Quality was suffering and it was boring. I remember sitting at a couture week, and looking at the clothes and thinking: ‘What happened to the magic of fashion? I thought it was boring. And I suspected that I was fitting into that mould as well,” says the designer.