African weave: Kente cloth given a makeover

Helmond, the Netherlands – African wax-print fabric maker Vlisco has given kente cloth, a hand-woven ceremonial fabric, a makeover.

With four boutiques across Africa – in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Cotonou, Benin; Lomé, Togo and Abidjan, Ivory Coast – Vlisco brings a high fashion experience to the wax-print fabric market. Its women customers from across sub-Saharan Africa buy the cloth to be turned into one-off outfits by their own personal tailors.

The boutiques display a collection of stunning outfit designs intended to inspire customers and give them an idea of the amount of cloth needed to create specific looks. In August Vlisco added accessories to its material lines to enable women to complete their head-to-toe, one-print look.

LS:N Global previously wrote about another example of an ethnic look makeover in its Inspire design direction Mix Mash.