I have had a lot of inquiries about the Kente fabrics we sell at Dziffa.com, with some asking just why our prints are so expensive when other outlets are selling them for a quarter of the price we are offering them for. I want to address this by first by saying that most of the “African prints” you buy are not made in Africa. I am going to use the picture above to address this topic.
RELATED: RESTORING AFRICA’S GREATNESS: WHY IT MATTERS TO BUY MADE-IN-GHANA PRODUCTS
The fabric I’m wearing on my body is called “Kente.” It is made from cotton by skilled artisans and hand-woven in the manner that spiders weave their webs. It is very authentic. You can have them for decades and they will still look brand-new. Six yards of Kente can take about one week to make as every part of it is unique, requiring a lot of focus, skill, and manpower.
The headscarf I have on is an “idea of Kente” stolen by the Chinese and marketed to African Americans as “African prints.”
African prints have no connection to the continent whatsoever and they are destroying our local fabric industry.
To make matters worse, African market women are importing them and selling them to tourists as African.
Instead of being offended and educating non-Africans that the Chinese, Indians, and a few local manufacturing companies are messing up our industry by stealing our ideas and marketing them as “African,” we are just following the trend and not stopping to tell people that “hey, this one is Kente from Ghana and this other one is just an idea of the Kente that is depriving us of customers we need to grow our local industry.”
If all the money sent to non-African manufacturers in the name of “African Prints” were channeled to the continent, our manufacturers would have the financial resources to innovate the way they produce, and the sector would be attractive to young people, providing jobs and contributing to the economy.
Let’s all try and remember that last sentence the next time we are tempted to buy a colorful Chinese print from someone marketing them to us as African.
We are all contributors of this continent; we can either invest in its growth or contribute to its underdevelopment. No savior is coming and the bad guys don’t exist. We are the saviors; we can choose to go with the trends or change the wave. The ball is in our court.
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Are we not getting enough of this people?
I think the first door to knock on is the local Chambers & Commerce; then the Ministry of Foreigh Affairs AND the Chinese Embassy in your countries. Campaign boycotts. Unfortunately without a patent on the designs and fabrics etc it might be a hard fight BUT not impossible as the Moari were smart to ensure their unique designs were not "stolen' by China and replicated without some royalty. Chinese traders should not be allowed to get away with these things. Even providing and dumping cheap things in Africa. Shame on the Gvts and leaders for not defending their heritage and perpetuating that everything in Africa can just be taken by foreigners. Compain to their embassies - after all its their jobs to ensure good trade relations and Chinese manufacturers begin to take responsibility and stop exploiting ALL things African.
It would be wonderful if you could provide a method for being able to tell the difference between authentic and fake. Thanks for all you do!
While am completely aware of the situation of Afircan prints not being made in Africa. Its a bit of a smack in the face when the article is titled Dead Afrocentrist as if people in places like Gambia and Nigeria are not going head over heals for this same damn fabric. Its distasteful to say the least. Im all abour restoring African nations own ability to produce, manufacture, protect and promote their own fabrics but to act as if blacks outside of Africa are the only ones duped into buying made in China fabrics is ridiculous. Get it together.
Karibu African Nights Thank you!
Tranquil Blessings Karibu! ;-)
My friends from Ghana stated to me that the Dutch wax last longer than the local prints, hence the choses to purchase them-am referring to the Ghanian white, that light blue and white print. Another Ghanian friend does not mind traveling to Thailand making a whopping purchase and reselling in Ghana. (The Thai should CEASE from copying as their embroderied work is HORRIBLE)
None of my friends in Ghana owned any Kente, as they stated it was too expensive for them to purchase!
I always thought that it look more southeast asian than african. It makes perfect sense.
The reason for African print in fashion is two-fold: one is cost. It is cheaper to buy kente print fabric than it is to buy kente. Therefore people who cannot afford kente but want the look will buy the print.
The second reason is practicality. Due to its very texture, weight and cleaning requirements, some African fabrics cannot be easily incorpoprated into contemporary ready to wear clothes. In order to make clothes that showcase Afrocentric fashion however, it sometimes becomes necessary to use African print so as to get the colours and designs whilst using a fabric that is pratical for the garment being made. Check http://www.kisua.com.
Now a days african fabrics is one of the popular things all over the world.Every ages of people likes it very much.Thank you so much for your post.
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