Togo may be small, but its textile traditions are rich, and its cloth tells the story better than any catwalk.
Batiks and ceremonial loincloths
Wikipedia notes that the artisanal centre of Kloto is known for dyed batiks showing stylised, colourful scenes of everyday life in former times. It also describes the ceremonial loincloths of the Assahoun weavers as famous. The Quilt of Belonging project describes pagnes, wrap-around garments made from wax-print cotton or hand-loomed cloth, and explains that each pattern has a name and meaning.
Kente and the Ewe
Africa.com explains that the Ewe named kente after the process of weaving: “ke” suggests opening the threads and “te” pressing them together. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds a kente cloth made by an Ewe master weaver around 1930 to 1950, built from 24 woven strips sewn edge to edge, and places Ewe and Akan communities in south-western Ghana and western Togo. Each colour carries a specific meaning, and the cloth is draped like a toga for ceremonies.
Lome and the wax-print trade
The Conversation reports that Lome’s Grand Marché became a West African hub for Dutch wax prints, run by women traders nicknamed the Nana-Benz. In the 1970s the textile trade was considered as significant as phosphate, the country’s main export. These techniques remain a lovely source of inspiration for colour, pattern and craft.
Sources: Wikipedia: Culture of Togo, Africa.com: Preserving Tradition, Kente Weaving in Togo, The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Man’s kente (prestige cloth), Quilt of Belonging: Togo, The Conversation: Togo’s Nana-Benz.
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