Honestly, your guess is as good as mine, but in the context that Americans commonly use it, “African Print” refers to machine made wax print fabrics that were initially manufactured by Dutch colonialists. Sometimes referred to as “Ankara,” “cotton” or “kitenge,” these bold, multicolored fabrics often feature striking designs and bright colors and they are manufactured by machines (see example here), although the process for making them was derived from traditional resist hand-dyeing techniques from Indonesia.
Companies such a Vlisco became rich and famous for their ability to adapt African design inspirations from art, symbolic language, architecture and fabric made on the continent and mass manufacture wax print fabrics featuring these inspirations in order to be attractive to African consumers, at a cheaper cost than the hand designed, dyed or woven fabrics that are native to the continent (see example of hand-designed, hand dyed fabric by African artisans here).
People all over the world, myself included, love these machine-made “African Print,” fabrics, but one thing that I resent about their popularity is that many people are unaware of existence of and greatness of the many different types of fabrics that are actually native to the African continent.
One common myth, is that the process of batik is native only to Indonesia, but the batik process or ‘tie dye’ is an ancient art form in Africa beginning with indigo and other natural dyes and progressing to the wide array of colors that are commonly applied to hand-dyed fabrics across Africa today. Any West African country that you visit today has particular tie dye and woven fabrics that they are locally famous for; like country cloth and garra in Sierra Leone, Brillion in Guinea, Kente in Ghana and Adire and Aso Oke in Nigeria, to name a few. Thankfully, there are many African designers who are currently exploring innovative ways to use these age old artistic customs in new and exciting fashion designs. In fact, one reason that I started Posh Africana is that I found the discovery of such culturally relevant designs so exciting, that I wanted to share my love of African art and fashion with as many people as I could. Feel free to check out some of these designers here. The set that I’m wearing in these pictures is a satin form of Ankara that’s still heavy on the print, but light, fun and breezy enough for your summer events.
Shirt available here
Shorts available here
Shoes by egoofficial, old but similar here
Bag by Zashadu, old but check the brand out here
Sunnies, Chloe
Thanks for reading, xo
Munje
