Mirror Fashion: Patterns that speak
They are worn with pride as the quality or brand speaks volumes about one’s social class, financial status and fashion sense; be it for funerals, naming ceremonies, weddings, parties and even on a regular basis; wax prints are a common “fabric” used in designing clothes.
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Usually sold in 12 yards as “full piece” and six yards as “half piece”, these colourful designs with their special names are also worn by some women to convey a special message to the public using the nonverbal communication mode.
In the past, wax prints were worn on special occasions and social events but today, and with the emergence of relatively cheaper brands and the “African print craze”, it is very common to see wax prints designed into beautiful garments and with matching accessories on sale all over town.
Origin
The African wax print is commonly used in making clothing in sub saharan Africa, especially West Africa, however, wax prints originated from the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, where locals specialised in creating and designing colourful patterns on clothes with wax.
In the 19th century, the Dutch recruited West African men, both as slaves and mercenaries to support their army in Indonesia. While there, these men took a liking to the local handicraft and brought some back to their respective countries.
With time, wax prints were imported from Europe to Africa as African women, both poor and rich showed interest in the colourful designs of the prints which have since become synonymous with Africa.
Names of wax print
Though the European manufacturers identified the fabrics by numbers, West African traders named them and till date, those names are widely known to local textile mills who later started producing the cloth, printed the names at the selvage of the material.
Ewurama, a wax print vendor at the Odawna Market at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, said some of the wax prints had names printed on them from the factory whiles others reproduced popular names already in existence.
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She said some indigenous names were also given to the wax print by the early traders depending on the look and design.
For instance ahwene pa nkasa which literally means “good things don’t talk for themselves” was named after a particular print because of its extreme beauty which attracted buyers.
She said the early traders also named some of those prints after popular local proverbs, popular places and prominent people.
“There is “Nkrumah pencil” which was named after Ghana’s first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Akosombo kania, Felicia, Angelina, aabee Mokola and several others. Some of these prints also carry messages in the form of advice.
For instance Su wo bra which we commonly call Subra or “water fountain” advises one to be mindful of the kind of life one leads.
Another one Mmako mmre pé denotes there is time for everything and Suro nipa which literary means “fear human beings”, she explained
Ewurama explained that men usually selected prints with special names for their women.
Prints such as Obaapa (good woman) and Akosombo kania (Akosombo lights) were bought, especially by men as presents for their wives or as part of their dowry whiles the women preferred to show off with prints such as Okunupa (good husband) etc.
Aunty Rose, popularly known as “NDC”, a wax print vendor at the Makola Market in Accra, who has been in the business for close to three decades, also added that some of the prints were named by just looking at the dominant object in the design hence names such as Aniwa (eye), and Akyekyedeé akyi (shell of a tortoise).
She said women who had quarrels with their rivals or fellow women also preferred certain prints names that cast insinuations, so even without uttering a word, their rivals would know what they wanted to say.
Aunty Rose also explained that, sometimes, for occasions such as funerals, people bought the print depending on the cause of death, status or age of the deceased and even circumstances surrounding the death.
She said for such customers, they came along with names or a small piece of the wax print they preferred.
Others who did not have specific designs in mind also looked at the available stock and chose a wax print with a name that suited the circumstances surrounding the death.
Some popular funeral prints are Se asa (it is finished), Suro nipa (fear man), Asem aba fie, (trouble at home), Awurade be hwe yen (God would cater for us), Afe bi ye esan and Owuo atwidee (death ladder).
“But, these days, because of modern designs and the popular African prints trend, people choose designs without paying much attention to the names or stories behind those names, once the design is attractive, they buy.” she added
“In the past, we never sold two yards or three yards of print, the standard length was either a full piece or a half piece, but today we can sell just a yard because of how designers have taken an interest in designing bags, earrings, shoes, purses and other accessories with the prints.
The buyers, especially the youth, are also not really bothered about the name of the print, once it’s colourful and fancy, they go for it.”
Aunty Rose admitted that the introduction of the Friday wear had also helped make the wax print business more attractive as in the past, people only bought them for special occasions and seasons.
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