Letitia Wright Offers a Masterclass in Suiting on the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Press Tour
Many believe it will be the late King T’Challa’s sister, Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, who takes over the Black Panther suit when Wakanda Forever hits theaters next week. In real life, though Wright has already suited up, not in a vibranium-laced panther suit, but in some beautifully tailored red carpet ready sets. The entire cast of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been turning out looks throughout this press tour, but it’s Wright who has stuck to her theme of immaculate suits, and done so beautifully.
It began at the movie’s Los Angeles premiere last week when Wright stepped out in an Alexander McQueen spring 2023 suit. The set was comprised of black, straight-leg pants and a one-button jacket, with columns of jewels that wrapped around Wright’s shoulders in a kind of harness. Those jewels then continued, decorating a cutout back and adding the perfect touch of glamour to the ensemble.
When Wright lifted up her arms in the Wakanda salute, one may have thought of the Givenchy couture suit Chadwick Boseman wore to the 2018 Academy Awards, which featured similarly embellished shoulders. It seems that Wright’s premiere look wasn’t only chic, but also a beautiful ode to the late star.
Earlier that day, Wright was busy filming a guest spot on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where she was joined by two of her costars, Danai Gurira, and Lupita Nyong’o. For that appearance Wright once again opted for a tailored look, wearing a dual-toned, gray and white suit, with a deconstructed nature to it. The white shirt fell out from under the jacket, which was cropped at the front. A pin striped collar and stitching at the arms were some of the added elements to this suit that made it so unexpected and interesting.
A few days later, and Wright was clearly ready to mix it up a little, while still remaining in the tailored theme she, and her stylist, Shiona Turini, laid out for this tour. At the Ebony Power 100 event last week, the actress wore a Ferragamo spring 2023 mini dress, which resembled a collarless suit jacket, sans pants. The bright red hue added a pop of color to Wright’s promo looks, and Turini paired the dress with equally bright strappy heels also seen on Maximilian Davis’ debut runway for the brand.
We are far from over, though, and just one night later, Wright was at a screening for the film in Washington DC, and she opted to add a little more whimsy to her repertoire. The actress wore a look from Daniel Roseberry’s spring/summer 2023 collection for Schiaparelli featuring a blazer with asymmetric collars and cropped sleeves, decorated with a gold leather appliqué, a glaring eye and gold beading. Wide pants with a pressed pleat finished the look.
When Wright attended a Town Hall at Sirius XM in New York on Tuesday, she brought it back to basics, arriving in classic suit pants with a white jacket on top. That’s where things got a bit interesting, though, as the jacket featured a criss cross detail that added some intrigue to the otherwise simple look, and seemingly called upon the classic Wakanda salute yet again.
And that brings us to Tuesday night, when the Wakanda Forever cast gathered together in NYC following another screening of the film. For the occasion, Wright and Turini may have pulled out their best suit of the bunch. This one was courtesy of Off-White and featured an oversized black jacket, with white stitching that created abs upon the actress’ chest. Clearly, Wright was feeling herself in the look, as she seemed to enjoy her night out with her costars, posing for the camera, and even indulge in a cake for her 29th birthday, which was on Monday.
We still technically have about a week and a half until Wakanda Forever’s wide release, and Wright has proven she can squeeze a lot of great suits in a short amount of time, so there could be a lot more in store. Plus, it’s seeming more and more likely that this press tour will end with Wright in the most important suit of all, the Black Panther suit.
