Shweshwe ( ) is a printed cotton cloth widely used for traditional South African outfits. Originally dyed indigo, the fabric is produced in various colors and printing designs that are characterized by intricate geometric patterns. Due to its timeless popularity, shweshwe has been described as a denim, or tartan, from South Africa.
Video Shweshwe
Name
The local name shweshwe comes from a cloth association with King Moshooee I Lesote, also spelled "Moshweshwe". Moshoeshoe I was gifted by French missionaries in the 1840s and later popularized it.
It is also known as sejeremane in Sotho, and ujamani in Xhosa, after 19th century German and Swiss settlers importing blaudruck blue ") fabrics for their clothes and help embed them in South African culture.
Maps Shweshwe
Usage
Shweshwe is traditionally used to make dresses, skirts, aprons, and cover clothes. Shweshwe's outfit is traditionally worn by the newly married Xhosa lady, known as makoti , and married Sotho's women. Xhosa women also put cloth into their traditional ocher-colored blankets. In addition to traditional clothing, shweshwe is used in contemporary South African fashion design for women and men of all ethnic groups, as well as for making accessories and upholstery. It is also used in the United States as a quilting fabric.
Production
Shweshwe is produced with acid release and rolling printing technique on pure calico cotton. It is printed in 90 cm wide, across the pattern and the A-shaped skirt panel is printed side by side. The fabric is produced in a variety of colors including indigo, brown and red chocolate, in a variety of designs including florals, lines, and diamonds, square and circular geometric patterns. The intricate designs are made using picotage, a pinning fabric printing technique rarely used by contemporary fabric manufacturers due to its complexity and cost, although the design effects have been replicated using modern fabric printing techniques.
Formerly imported into South Africa from Europe, trademarked fabrics have been produced by Da Gama Tekstil in the town of Zwelitsha outside King William's Town in the Eastern Cape since 1982. In 1992, Da Gama Textiles purchased sole rights for Three Cats, the most popular brand of fabrics made by Spruce Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in Manchester, and original carved copper rollers are shipped to South Africa. Da Gama Textiles has made shweshwe from cotton imported from Zimbabwe and grows locally in the Eastern Cape.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
0 Comments