Marvel Studios’ latest hit Black Panther is historical in so many ways. It’s a major superhero outing with a prominent black ensemble (on and off camera); it’s millions of dollars spent to celebrate black identity, beauty, and excellence; it officially made over $1 billion at the global box office in just 26 days. Oh, and it’s just a stunning, critically-acclaimed film (though movie-goers in China would strongly disagree).
Black Panther fever definitely reached our shores here (in both gorgeous splendor and crude endeavors), and this find by Twitter user @illyanaaa proves no different. Yesterday, she posted a picture she snapped at a market near Tekka Centre in Little India — in which a replica of the traditional garb worn by the eponymous Black Panther is spotted for sale. The vendors aren’t even hiding the fact that, yes, it’s inspired by the film.
FML LAH pic.twitter.com/eKvXYFl00U
— d i a n a v a n a n (@illyanaaa) March 12, 2018
This, however, shouldn’t be surprising at all. If you’ve already watched Black Panther, or even just the trailer, you might have noticed that the titular character’s alter ego, King T’Challa of Wakanda, wears a couple of traditional-looking shirts that very closely resemble what many Muslim men in Indonesia wear when they go to the mosque or during festive holidays — the koko shirt.
A week after the film’s release in Indonesia, numerous religious fashion sellers capitalized on its popularity by releasing a line of black koko shirts to look almost exactly like the one T’Challa wore, reported our colleagues in Coconuts Jakarta. For around IDR300K (US$22), the black shirt can be ordered from e-commerce websites like Tokopedia.
The one sold at Tekka, however, looks a wee bit sharper like it’s made with better fabric than the ones sold in Indonesia, but the outfit’s length still seems shorter than what actor Chadwick Boseman wore in the flick. Best way to find out? Snap the robe up for yourself so you can look simultaneously traditional and superhero-chic. Just know and accept the fact that you’ll never look as good as the Wakandan king himself.
With text by Coconuts Jakarta
