How ‘We Are Lady Parts’ Costumes Were an Avenue for Faith

“We Are Girl Parts” centers on an all-female Muslim punk band who are making songs their way, developing an viewers, and balancing their personal lifestyle on and off stage.

Costume designer Computer Williams intended just about every woman’s wardrobe to honor her marriage with her religion even though also applying costume to act as an avenue for cultural and self-expression.

The sequence, streaming on Peacock, follows 5 women— Amina (Anjana Vasan), the newly recruited lead guitarist Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey), Girl Parts’ guide singer Ayesha, (Juliette Motamed) Girl Parts’ drummer Bisma (Faith Omole), the bass participant, and Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse), the band’s supervisor.

“All of these gals are second-era migrants, like me I was born in the U.K., but my roots are from Nigeria and Ghana. When I was imagining about these four gals, for me, it was about actually seeking to realize who they were culturally and marrying that with a London vibe,” Williams suggests.

Four of the 5 band customers don some form of conventional Muslim head coverings. Williams brought on several Muslim ladies to her style group and undertook hours of investigation to precisely portray how style and religion function side by side.

“A head masking is a head masking, now how you do that is absolutely up to you and I preferred to demonstrate that there is no just one way to do it. You can have variety in a group of Muslim sisters,” Williams states.

Williams broke down every single rocker’s signature design.

Amina

Amina has her sights established on getting a everyday living partner and obtaining her Ph.D. in microbiology. But, when she joins the band, her designs adjust. In excess of time she finds a new consolation degree in her identity. Amina is generally found in pastel-colored hijabs and nominal makeup.

“Amina was one of those people in which when you get started the job you have this sort of a crystal clear concept of what it is that you want to do. And then, as you get into the task, that notion retains twisting and turning. And I feel marrying her demure sensibility with this want, and form of have to have, to crack out of this mildew and to lean into this new house that she was inhabiting, that felt wonderful to her — that was like my major problem, how do I make, how do I make cool costumes for a woman who enjoys A-line skirts and button-up blouses. And is now in a punk band.

“There’s the scene where Girl Components is executing a Dolly Parton music and Amina’s however received her A-line, significant-waisted skirt on, but she’s obtained this shirt with a horse print on it. And it is the initially time we really see her in darkish colours, and it’s her variation of leaning into what it usually means to be punk, but it’s even now truly sweet. It’s what she could be exterior of what we ordinarily see her in, which is pastels and intensely-embroidered two-piece sets.”

Bisma

Bisma takes fantastic satisfaction in her heritage and often sporting activities vivid West African turbans and political t-shirts. She’s also the calmest member of the band. When she’s not in the band, Bisma spends time selling her art on her road stall.

“Bisma is Nigerian-British, she’s my sisters and me, and my cousins, and mother’s friends’ youngsters — it’s a delight in African prints, but incorporating that in a way where it feels contemporary and has a Western vibe, but you still holding on to what’s true to your cultural identity.

“Her art plays a big portion in who she is. The inside structure of her condominium is a great deal of upcycled, reclaimed furnishings and items. I wished to convey that via to her wardrobe — about 90% of it is thrift shop finds with autumnal colors, macramé, and anything at all that feels Afro-centric.

“We used a whole lot of Omolola jewellery from a younger Nigerian jeweler, and a lot of her jewelry is from around Africa or particular tribes in Nigeria working with symbols that mean a thing to Nigerian society.

“Bisma’s vibe is tremendous vintage. Almost everything demands to feel like it is experienced three life prior to coming to her, but when it hits her, it can make feeling.”

Ayesha

Ayesha is the band’s drummer. She’s also an Uber driver with highway rage. For her outfits, she’d sport sparkly Center Jap abayas and drapey headscarves with extraordinary eyeliner.

“Ayesha’s vibe is who Juliette is in authentic lifestyle. So fairly than me building the outfits, I took additional of a curatorial tactic to her design. I curated her wardrobe, and collaborating with her. I’d say, ‘Here, what do you believe? What kind of seems to be would you make?’  So, we had an afternoon of just trying all the things on.

“That to me, felt true to who she was due to the fact she would convey in a lot of herself in the character. I think from time to time when you’re accomplishing a character who is so stylized it can experience a little bit forced. I did not want that to happen so she was a large portion of designing what she wore — dim hues, anime prints, hefty metal detailing, and slogan t-shirts from Aborigine manufacturers.”

Momtaz

Momtaz is the core of the band. As the group’s manager, her objective is to transform them into a huge results.

“I wanted to make certain that a woman who wears a niqab could choose up just one of the niqabs we made and use and feel like it in good shape the objective. I did not want it to be like this bizarre fashion point. Every thing has to just really feel all-natural. It could not truly feel like the demonstrate was styled. I’m not likely to check out and transform the niqab from what a niqab is what I want to do is just give you variations of this whilst continue to keeping it modest and fitting the objective of getting coated though also enabling our actress, Lucie, to come to feel that she was also bringing some thing awesome to the demonstrate. She has to spend these eight weeks included and I can envision that that is quite a large factor to take on, particularly when the women are coming out in glance just after appear. I think Ayesha had 37 seems in the whole demonstrate even though we made 4 niqabs for Momtaz.

“But it was really crucial to me that Lucie felt that some design, care, and consideration experienced been taken into her costumes, but that they nonetheless fit the intent.”