"Black Panther" has smashed records at the box office. It’s now the highest grossing superhero movie ever in the United States.

It has also sparked a boom in African clothing.

But can the buzz last? Some local businesses hope so

Businesses like Elegance African Fashions, a small shop tucked away on a residential street in Dorchester.

Owner Ebby Ihionu welcomes a new customer on a recent Friday, asking him how he's doing with a smile.

"Very good, thank you," Jean-Sebastien Duvilaire, 32, of Framingham, responds. Stepping further into the shop, Duvilaire's eyes light up.

"This is beautiful. When you come in, this is like Africa," he says.

"That’s right. That’s right. Thank you!" Ihionu says.

Duvilaire is a dancer and choreographer. And he’s been thinking a lot about Africa ever since he saw the movie "Black Panther."

"The clothes, the spirituality, the food, the songs, the art -- it definitely made me think of African [and] Pan-Africanism in a certain way," Duvilaire says.

So when he needed an outfit for an event, he did a quick online search for stores that specialize in African attire and found Elegance African Fashions.

There are handmade clothes and jewelry on display, and the store is lined floor to ceiling with vibrant African fabrics — from Nigeria, Ghana and other African countries.

Ihionu shows Duvilaire several different outfits. He tries on a few and ends up with two embroidered white shirts and a pair of pants.

"I think this was made for me," he says with a laugh as he checks himself out in a mirror.

Duvilaire is one of many new customers who have come through the doors of Elegance African Fashions since "Black Panther" opened in theaters.

Ebby Ihionu, right, and her sister Ifeyinwa Okolie work on custom clothes made with African fabrics at Elegance African Fashions in Dorchester. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Ihionu says these new customers are from all different backgrounds. And her regular customers are buying more since the movie.

"It's been super," she says. "Usually during winter, the business is slow, but it has been like up, up, up. You know, people come every day."

Ihionu is originally from Nigeria and has run this business out of the basement of her home for 11 years. And for the first time, she ran out of some items.

"I ran out of dashikis. I ran out. I had to go, and you know, start making more," she explains.

The colorful printed dress shirts usually sell in the summer. And Ihionu isn’t slowing down. She’s already booked up with orders for custom-made clothes for the next two months. It's all because of the bump from "Black Panther."