From timeless traditions to cutting-edge trends, Ghanaian fashion has undergone captivating transformation. Do you remember the era of baggy jeans and oversized shirts? What of the ‘kaba and slit’ with exaggerated puffs, the bare backs and bar trousers?
And then now, the ready to wear African print garments, snatched corsets and many new trends.
The Journey
The history of fashion in Ghana dates far back before independence. Before external influences, people would wrap cloth around themselves which were woven from cotton on locally manufactured looms.
External influence with Europeans from the late 16th century brought about tailoring indigenous fabrics and also embracing imported clothes like the suits, dresses and hats.
Certain colours and styles were reserved for special occasions carrying significant meaning. Black, was reserved for mourning and the woven kente cloth for royals.
Currently, fashion in Ghana has overcome these specifications.
Joyce Ababio is a fashion designer who has played a key role in transforming the kente into fashionable clothing. ‘One of the things that I can see has grown in bounds is the kente cloth for instance. 2003 was when I put out the kente cloth to allow everybody to wear it differently.
So, I took myself off to Bonwire to have a conversation over it and they informed me that they wouldn’t do colours unless of course it’s Asantehene’s something is happening, and they come up with the design then of course the rest of us get to have it.
A friend of mine said to me that, come to the Tuesday market at Agbozome. So, I drove there early morning to go and discover all sorts of interesting, colorful kente cloth that were being sold there. So that was the beginning of me working on kente,’ she said.
The latest trends
Ghanaian fashion now has been influenced by modernity and old trends from the 19th and 20th centuries.
From the loose shirts, puffy Kaba sleeves and the famous European corsets from the 16th century. One of such designers notable for this movement is Edzordzinam Agrosah. She says ‘Now, the Kaba and the slit has evolved. We’ve added things to it like corsets, bead works, crystals, appliqués. It’s not like what it used to be.’
It is evident that fashion in Ghana has taken a huge turn and is bringing forth many designers to create more culturally inclined made in Ghana clothing infusing local and foreign styles which are being embraced globally.
Joyce Ababio further adds that she wants fashion to be looked at as a very important area in the country and that it should be allowed to grow through proper training. This I believe could reduce the rate of unemployment and also increase the countries revenue through the exports and exhibition of our made-in-Ghana clothing.
By Nana Birago Kwakye
The Writer is an intern in the TV3 Newsroom and a final year Theatre Arts student at the University of Ghana-Legon