Afrochic: Kitenge’s fashionable display of African history

Nairobi Girls Chorale perform Christmas songs to entertain the public as they marked their 14th edition at Yaya centre in Nairobi on Dec 22, 2019. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

A mainstay of African fashion, the Kitenge, wax hollandais or Ankara fabric holds up a mirror to history.

“Riotously colourful, densely patterned, and unassailably fabulous,” is how Sara Archer, an art writer, described “wax hollandais” (kitenge) in a 2016 news report for Hyperallergic, an American art and culture online magazine. At the time, the fabric and the fashion it has inspired were part of an official exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, about an hour-and-a-half drive from New York City.

The origin of the printed fabric and its popularity in Africa date back to the mid-1800s when a Dutch company, now named Vlisco, traded it in West Africa’s coastal towns. Since then, the fabric has been a mainstay of African fashion.

The generic “wax hollandais” reference originated then. But the name has now extended to any similarly printed fabric, irrespective of the print technique or the manufacturer.

Over the last decade, the popularity of the fabric has grown outside the continent, including among the African diaspora and African American communities in the US.

Beyond the fashion, however, the unique tradition of naming the patterns as they come on the market, make them one of the best chronicles of historical and contemporary events, reflecting social trends or celebrating social rites of passage.

The most iconic of the fabrics, recognisable the world over, is Angelina, a V-shaped ornate main pattern with a dotted band on the edge, reportedly inspired by Ethiopian clothing tradition. The name came from a popular song by a Ghanaian high-life band released around the time the fabrics were offered for sale.

Angelina comes in several colour combinations and is almost always worn in dashiki style. The dashiki is a pull-over outfit – either as a shirt or dress - with the V-shaped pattern forming the collar at the front while the same pattern is centrally displayed at the back.

Following former US president Barack Obama’s historic election in 2008, consumers found ways to honor him and first lady Michelle Obama.

Two of the fabric patterns that hit the market (in parts of Africa) around the same time were called Barack Obama’s heart and the other Michelle Obama’s handbags.

Mrs Obama later visited a few countries in Africa, and another pattern was named after her shoes, symbolising her setting foot on the continent.

None of these names were from the company itself but from consumers cleverly linking fashion to history, celebrating famous people or expressing the trends of the moment.

Afrochic

The same patterns can have alternative names in different countries. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for instance, Angelina is called “Ya Mado” because dancers in a video of the song were wearing the fabric pattern.

Another pattern, commonly referred to as cha cha cha, evokes the 1960s legendary Congolese rumba tune titled “Independence cha cha”. In Ghana the same pattern is called Senchi Bridge after a suspension bridge on the Volta River that swings widely when travelled on. In neighbouring Togo cha cha cha is referred to as the back of the chameleon.

Whether in the DRC, Ghana or Togo, these names chronicle life events, reflecting milestones such as independence or the end of war, or changes in fortunes or personal circumstances and more.

For a long time, women were the fabric’s largest consumers for its simply designed attires - usually a two-piece skirt and top, or a three-piece top, bottom and waistcloth.

Men would mostly make simple shirts out of the fabric or an ensemble of a top and trousers that is worn on special occasions.

But “things have changed,” Johannesburg-based fashion designer Tanya Kagnaguine told Africa Renewal from South Africa. “The offering is no longer just about a two or three-piece usual wear. It is about offering new contemporary designs capable of rivalling ready-made attire imported from Europe.”

These new designs, Tanya calls them Afrochic, are a blend of traditional African designs and modern and creative fashion wear.

American artistes such as Beyonce Knowles, Rihanna, Madonna; politicians and world leaders like Nelson Mandela, Ghana’s president Nana Addo Dankwa Akuffo Addo, US former first and second ladies Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, have all embraced the fabric and its Afrochic designs.

As the revival of the ankara/kitenge was taking off in the mid-2000s, Tanya left her high paying international job and set up her own company Fafa Creations to respond to growing local demand after the apartheid years.

Really African?

But as much as the ankara/kitenge is considered the most iconic of all African fabrics, a few critics point out that Vlisco, which is still in business centuries later, is neither African nor based in Africa.

They also point out that the batik technique distinctive of the original fabrics is reportedly of Indian origin, first introduced to Indonesia where it failed to gain traction, before being exported to West Africa, hinting that African pride in those prints might be misplaced.

“It ours, nonetheless because we made it so,” Esi Atiase, a Senegal-based digital entrepreneur counters. 

“These fabrics have always been part of our daily lives, part of our culture, and part of our moments of celebrations and of sorrows,” she says. And for her, it is fitting and proper to claim and celebrate that heritage.

“This is us, these are our stories,” she said.

- This article was first published by Africa Renewal: www.un.org/africarenewal/