Introduction
A new generation of creatives is helping reconnect Africans with the sights, sounds, aromas and moods that only African fabrics and design pieces can evoke. These are exciting young artists who believe strongly in Africa and in inventing the future. They are eager to let the world know that African creatives, using African materials, can produce exquisite pieces on par with anything that comes out of the top fashion houses in Asia, Europe or America. One of these young designers is called Noutépé Assogba, and she is based in Togo.
Background: From Igbo-Ukwu to fabrics and women’s emancipation
Africa has a rich heritage of artisans who have made a myriad of exquisite things for daily use for thousands of years. From Igbo Ukwu to the Kuba nation and even the nomadic Amazigh, we can see African inventiveness and intricate skills on display. Africa’s famed artisans are known to use a myriad of different materials – tree resin, raffia, clay, cotton, glass beads, leather, copper – to make pieces that are breath-taking in both their sophistication and elegance. Put a photo of the Igbo Ukwu bowl or staff head next to a Fabergé egg and you will immediately get blown away by what African designers managed to make over a thousand years ago!
Between 1960 and 1980, archaeologists uncovered more than 500 fragments of cloth and other items in the Bandiagara Escarpment in Mali. Dating technology shows that the cloth was made over 1000 years ago. Techniques used to weave the cloth are consistent with narrow strip loom designs, i.e. long strips of fabric were woven before the strips were sewn together to make a bigger cloth. The cloth also shows that indigo dye imported from North Africa was used as well as wool from Mauretania to give more colour and style to the cloth. Glass beads were imported from China and the Middle East and transformed into beautiful necklaces, earrings and hair pieces.
The history of fabric making on the continent further shows how the African genius was able to transform simple raffia or Odom tree bark into decadent fashion coveted by some of the top fashion houses around the world.
The industry around fabric making and selling was instrumental for women’s emancipation in West Africa where the famed Nana Benz have been the pillars of Beninese and Togolese society for almost 100 years. When the colonial system collapsed, a group of inspired women raised money, took their designs to Europe and started importing large volumes of wax cloth to Africa. They became so successful that their business represented a significant proportion of all economic activity in West Africa and one of the major forex earners for the sub-region. In their communities, they became known as the Nana Benz, because when any one of them became successful, they had to have a German luxury car. A big house and a German luxury car announced to the world that one had become a Nana Benz. National governments soon decided to get in on the action. They set up textile factories across West Africa (O’Raybour, Sunflag, SOBETEX, CICAM, ABC, Akosombo Textiles, etc.). West Africans are still crazy about African fabrics, but the Nana Benz are not so prominent, or flamboyant anymore.
Leading the African renaissance; the new Nana Benz
Or, let us say that a new type of Nana Benz is emerging. That is where Noutépé comes in. Whereas the old Nana Benz only sold fabric, the new generation have a much bigger imagination. Noutépé Assogba uses Togolese Lokpo, Kente, Ankara, Kampala, bazin and other cloths to make everything imaginable from jackets, bucket hats, belts, bags, pencil cases, backpacks and jewellery. This is a fusion between street fashion and neo-African designs. She also makes seat covers, curtains and other items on demand. Through this, she and others are taking African fabrics and pieces into the interior décor space, for homes as well as office parks and hotels.
At a time when cheap Chinese imports flood the markets, West Africa stands out at the part of the continent where a clear majority of the people still prefer to wear African cloth and motifs. This is the ultimate ode to Africa’s cloth artisans like the old generation of Nana Benz and the new generation like Togo’s Noutépé Assogba
“I’ve always loved making things, but not necessarily to support myself. A while ago, I attended a workshop on entrepreneurship, and that completely changed my perspective. I realised that there was so much around me that I could use to make things that people can use in their daily existence, and that is how my journey started.”
For her, using African fabrics is a conscious choice. After all, fabrics are not just woven cotton threads. They are representations of a culture at a specific point in history. The different colours and patterns on a piece of cloth depict what people are experiencing and feeling, how they live, how they love, how they play and how they invent the future. Fabrics show the scope and scale of a people’s sciences and their ability to use the material around them to capture the magic and beauty that transforms the wearer of the cloth.
“I absolutely love African fabrics. You have locally woven fabrics like lokpo and even bazin. Moreover, you have wax, which, although not necessarily an African fabric from the beginning, has become so ubiquitous and integral to the African experience, that it is impossible to not use it. The African genius comes into play in the transformation process, and that is what makes it truly African.”
Noutépé is right; Wax is an African cloth. However, we need to understand why it comes from the far side of the world. When slave ships first arrived in West Africa, Europeans realised that West Africans were already weaving cloth. They felt that the cloth that was brought from Europe was of inferior quality. So what European traders did is that they copied the motifs of the artisans on the West African coast and had these printed on cloth made in Kofa Mata (Nigeria), the Netherlands and especially in Indonesia where wax printing originated. Asia soon became an integral component of the slave trade: the cloth from Indonesia was one of the main currencies used to buy slaves.
West Africa is still a mecca of innovation. Young designers are finding new ways to use the abundance of material around them. When Esther Mahlangu covered a BMW in Ndebele art, it turbo-charged Africans’ desire to innovate. Social media and a renewed interest in African history has encouraged even more interest in African creativity. In Togo, more and more young people are taking an interest in weaving. Training centres have been set up in various towns to welcome and train the younger generation. These include CENATIS (the national weaving centre) in Sokodé, the Centre Artisanal de Bafilo, the CAFTIS (centre artisanal de formation et tissage), the Asahoun weaving centre, etc. More and more fashion designers are also using woven Lokpo fabric for their creations, highlighting the lokpo like Nadiaka, a big name in Togolese fashion. Whereas neighbouring Benin is investing heavily in cotton production and cheap fashion, Togo is reinventing how we see African fabrics.
Noutépé continues: “I started making designs that I love because it was fun, and because my immediate circle loved the things that I made, I decided to continue. The jewellery that I make, you cannot walk into a store and buy it. Most of the time, I make one piece based on my inspiration or a customer’s instructions and that’s it.”
Noutépé agrees that there is a visible shift in the market. Nowadays, when people buy clothes to wear, as well as pieces with which to decorate their home, they are intentional about it. They look for creatives who can deliver unique made in Africa pieces. From lokpo handbags to wax purses, Africa is perhaps the last continent where it is still possible for a majority of the people to go to their neighbourhood artisan to have a unique piece made.
“I was making things with African material before this sudden growth in the demand for African-made things. The interesting thing is that my biggest market is Togolese. Togolese are keen to wear or own things made with material from here. It is true that there are people who come to Togo to buy, but our biggest market is local”.
This is an important development. From less than two decades ago when the colonial dynamic was still strong and people dressed like Westerners in order to survive or to be accepted in their new corporate or urban surroundings, the picture has completely changed. Local artisans and locally-manufactured fabrics are king again.
Noutépé has come to the interview wearing one of her signature pieces, marketed under her brand, Princess Pearls. It is absolutely gorgeous. It is made from recycled material and glass beads. For her, there is no need for young people to leave the continent or give up without even trying.
“You have to believe in yourself and in your ability to do great things. I think that we have only just scratched the surface of what we can achieve. It is also important to try new things, take fashion in a new direction and just keep going.”
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