African print gains popularity in the local market
Nnasaretha Kgamanyane | Friday March 31, 2017 16:03
It is a must for each woman to have a dress and a matching scarf, a two-piece outfit, a jumpsuit, shorts or pants of African print in her closet. This has seen many local well-known designers loving African fabric patterns and use them in their sought-after fashion shows.
Its vibrant colors, hand-made quality and unique artistic designs of African fabrics and textiles have stimulated the fashion senses of people from different social backgrounds, age groups and different body shapes.
Rich cultural heritage behind each of the African fabric being sold today is not just a mixture of bright colours and patterns to entice people to use it. These colours symbolise and represent important roots in African people from all sectors of the society.
A variety of items, more especially for women, have been made out of this fabric that is also known as Ankara. Many items such as hats, earrings, blazers, and shoes to mention but a few have a touch of this fabric. This is because African print is versatile. We have seen many people blending this fabric with other fabrics such as lace, chiffon, silk, and spandex for clothing to give their outfits a more vibrant and classy look.
Even though in Botswana African print attires are worn in different events such as weddings, cultural events such as Letlhafula, Son of The Soil to mention a few, it does not have more definition than making a fashion statement. Most of the local ladies use this modern African print to look glamourous.
However, in their blog, AKN Fabrics stated that colours symbolise and represent important roots in African people from all sectors of the society. The administrator explains that the Akan people of West Africa wear red, brown and black for funerals; white is used for festive occasions.
“The Ashanti people of Ghana use gold to represent status and serenity; yellow stands for fertility and vitality. The colour green refers to renewal and growth, stands for birth and death. Blue signifies their belief in God and the supremacy of the blue sky. Blue also symbolises purity and harmony. The colour red generally means political passion, resistance and protection. The Ashanti also believe that red provides protective powers. Black conveys spiritual awareness and union with ancestors,” they stated.
The blog continues explaining that African textile fabrics were the foremost channel of Africans to communicate between themselves and their rich historical backgrounds.
It says the origin started around the 11th century towards the 13th century. It added that the fabrics were made from any of those clothing production techniques like dyeing, weaving, printing and embroidering methods.
“Fibers used are mostly cotton, silk, raffia, bark and linen. African fabrics are rarely produced with just one method. The skills and craftsmanship exhibited in each hand made assembly is truly admirable making these African textiles an important art authentic collection,” it states.
In an interview, African Prints Botswana’s business development manager, Oshalle Monyatse said African print fabrics leverage the fashion icons and continues to gain more exposure in the fashion scene as more popular personalities and celebrities include them in their wardrobe collections.
“It is a must for every woman to have an African print outfit in their wardrobe. It makes a sassy but elegant fashion statement. We all want to look unique and sassy. The prints and colours are refreshing to exude vibrancy and vigour loved by the wearers and onlookers,” she said.
Monyatse added that as a way of promoting African print fabrics, her company decided to come up with different strategies that will raise awareness about the local fashion industry by shining a light on locally produced modern African print apparel and accessories.
“The ultimate goal is to generate demand for local fashion products resulting in a stimulated industry and employment creation particularly for the youth. The initiative aims to dispel the myth that tailor made local fashion products are expensive, time consuming and only won at traditional functions.
“It aims to demonstrate that African print products can be won anywhere and are not expensive. With increased demand, awareness and sensitisation, African Prints Botswana believes that the industry will add 200 new jobs for the youth by the end of 2017,” she said confidently.