Documenting changing fashion in Africa post-1960
A kaba and slit is a two or three piece outfit worn by Ghanaian women, consisting of a fitted blouse with wide sleeves, a wrapper skirt, sometimes with a matching headwrap. This kaba and slit is made from GTP (Ghana Textiles Printing Company) brand fabric, featuring a brown and blue chinoiserie design. The fabric was Read More …
This T-shirt in support of UNIP was produced in Zambia for the 1991 election, the first multi-party election in the country since 1968. UNIP is an acronym for the United National Independence Party, a socialist party that had governed Zambia from its independence in 1964. The party comprehensively lost the 1991 election to the Movement Read More …
This man’s aso-oke agbada was worn by Martin Sholagbade in his role as the Father of the Bride at a wedding in 2009. It is an example of sanyan, a classic style of aso-oke, typically worn by celebrants and close family at weddings. Aso-oke translates as ‘top cloth’ or ‘high status cloth’. It is a Read More …
This white African lace buba (blouse), iro (wrap) and pele (shawl) was made in Nigeria and worn by Fashioning Africa Collecting Panelist, Edith Ojo, to a friend’s wedding in 2014. A buba and iro is a matching outfit worn by Yoruba women. African lace (actually industrially produced embroidery originally imported from Austria) is very popular Read More …
The pattern on these trousers is created using the adire eleko technique on white fabric. Adire is an indigo cloth produced through diverse resist dye methods by Yoruba women of southwesten Nigeria. The adire eleko technique uses casseva starch paste to create freehand or stenciled designs. Areas where the paste is applied resist the indigo Read More …
Tie-dyed sweatshirt from Zimbabwe. This long-sleeved cream sweatshirt formerly belonged to Charles Makhuya. In the 1970s Charles was a guerrilla / freedom fighter with the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA), the armed wing of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). Charles and the other recruits tie-dyed the shirts themselves to individualise them, using red ochre Read More …
This skirt and wrap are made from thick blanket fabric dyed with red ochre and decorated with black fabric embellishments, beads and mother of pearl buttons. This outfit was worn typically by married Xhosa women living in the Drakensberg mountain region of Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was bought by a dealer in the 1980s Read More …
This embroidered tie-dye buba (blouse) carrying the label ‘Shade’s Boutique of Lagos’ was bought by one of Brighton Museum’s curators in a Brighton second hand shop. Maison Shade (later Shade’s Boutique) was the label of influential Nigerian fashion designer Folushade ‘Shade’ Thomas-Fahm who created innovative garments which combined traditional Nigerian textiles and styles with a Read More …
This aso-oke agbada (robe), and sokoto (trousers) are part of an outfit that was commissioned for the owner, Dotun, to wear at his London wedding reception in 1995. Dotun and his wife Funmi held four wedding events in total, two took place in the UK and two in Nigeria. The Museum collected several of their Read More …
This two piece outfit was commissioned by the owner, Dotun, for his wedding ceremony in 1995. It is made of a synthetic fabric called African lace (actually industrially produced embroidery originally imported from Austria) that is very popular in Nigeria and West Africa. African lace can be worn as an outfit or teamed with aso-oke Read More …