Zerina Akers recently finished one of the biggest music videos in her career. The veteran stylist spoke about the outfits and its cultural references involved. Currently, Akers is praised for her work in Black Is King by Beyonce.
The visual album was in sequence with the track Beyonce released for The Lion King: The Gift. The visual treat was praised for many reasons such as the dazzling outfits with proper calculations, impeccably styled stuff and actors, and most importantly how visually stimulating the entire clip was.
Throughout the weekend, Akers kept receiving several colorful flowers and arrangements from fashion houses and fans. The costume designer kept no stone unturned and had enough time to reveal the hidden meaning, cultural references, and the pairing based on fashion shown in the visual album.
"I'm so humbled by everything, that it was well-received, that people got it, and we were able to provide a much-needed escape and reality check with everything that's going on. It was this burst of joy that we all needed as one collective of people, of humanity,” Akers said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Akers said that the response was extremely "overwhelming" for her. However, the entire credit was given to Beyonce along with the collaborators that involve a huge team of assistants and stylists. Most importantly, she mentioned about the tailor Timothy White and creative director Kwasi Fordjour.
The costume designer explained that it was a one-year-long project that took a lot of hard work to pull off. However, Akers appreciated the opportunity given to her for styling Beyonce in the course of changing various looks.
Akers mentioned about the couture houses and the upcoming designers involved in the process that also worked on Beyonce's family members such as Blue Ivy, twins Rumi and Sir, Tina Knowles Lawson, and Jay-Z.
Besides family, there were African superstars such as Mr. Eazi, Tiwa Savage, Shatta Wale, Busiswa, Wizkid, and Yemi Alade. Akers noted the supermodels involved Adut Akech and Naomi Campbell along with Lupita Nyong'o who is an Oscar winner Kenyan-Mexican actress.
Akers spoke about the challenges she faced to ensemble the favorites and the references based on culture, family, marriage, status, and money. The beach dress was designed by Wendy Nichol that was a slip, languid, and sheer outfit. Akers explained that the initial version of the similar dress was supposed to be completely nude. This would have shown things falling apart.