Africa has been empowered though fashion

By

Emmanuel Ndlovu (@emman_amp)

Guest blogger…

   Emmanuel Ndlovu  and Donna NC (Picture by Anesu Marshall)

I express my great appreciation to our guest blogger, Emmanuel Ndlovu. He is a final year student at the National University of Science and Technology, studying Journalism and Media studies. Emman will be blogging about the recent fashion phenomenon  - the African Print.For him, Africa has been empowered though fashion. Read below to get what he thinks about the African print.

Recently there has been an increase of African things in the fashion world. African ornaments, jewelry and print are some of the issues that come to mind. What does this sudden interest in these things mean? In the Zimbabwean context, the one that has become more popular with the people is the African Print.

What is this ‘African print’? This is one question I am most certain that is in the minds of the majority of people reading this piece. This question is asked not because people do not genuinely know what it is, but because we live in a society where things such as fashion are taken for granted and are trivialized and as it is, I am certain that the biggest challenge that this blogger faces is that of being taken for granted! I personally believe there is more to fashion than meets the eye especially the politics behind fashion and for this I don’t think it is fair for it to be dismissed so easily.

Straying away from the topic is what I am always accused of so I will just go back to the issue at hand swiftly.

DID YOU KNOW???

 G. Gerlich, a writer from Ghana says a lot about the African print or the African wax print as referred to by others. Some of the things said by this writer are that this phenomenon was common especially in West Africa and these prints are a part of a nonverbal way of communication. What I also found out from this writer is that from the onset, there was politics behind the African prints especially among women. These pieces of clothes were used to communicate social status to others. Those who came from high class backgrounds such as the wives of African kings and chiefs wore certain types of prints that this writer described as elitist. Collecting many of these prints was also one of the practices women engaged in and these reflected the financial possibilities of these women.

 A woman with many prints was a respected woman among the other women. In other words, these prints were used to promote social divides among the rich and the poor. People always look for sophisticated causes behind divides but looking back, the truth of the matter is these reasons are part of our everyday lives and we have become oblivious of these facts as we take so many things for granted.

 However, in as much as these prints gave statuses to African women, the divide that still exists today between men and women is one that even these African prints could not overcome.

On a lighter note, The African prints originally came from Indonesia and were exported to the Gold Coast and spread over West Africa into Central Africa. Over time, Africans have customized and personalised the designs. The print fabrics are taking the international world of fashion by storm and they are an inspiration for designers across the globe. Internationally, celebrities such as Beyoncé, Lupita Ny’ongo, and the Zimbabwean born- New York based entertainment and fashion blogger, Makho Ndlovu have been spotted in African print. Closer to home, the likes of Minnie Dlamini, Gilmore Tee and Donna NC have also rocked an outfit or two. 

This issue of African print depends on how you choose to view it. To the fashion laggards it is just one of those trends that has come and will go. To the fashion enthusiasts, it definitely is a must have look. As a fellow fashion devotee, I agree with the other enthusiasts, it is a definite must have look but I also feel like the African print phenomenon is a form of empowerment of the continent. Africa is usually associated with a wild jungle, a land of diseases, a dark continent but with the African print that is taking the world by storm, we are at least recognised for something beautiful- INDEED AFRICA HAS BEEN EMPOWERED THROUGH FASHION!