Haute Batik:
Inspired by West Africa,
sold by
a little Dutch company
It's a bit like discovering a British Afrobeat group so good at making afrobeat that they can hold their own at the New Afrika Shrine. The Dutch company Vlisco goes one better: not only do it make batik material good enough to be sold in Nigeria (and in Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, DR Congo, and, of course, the Netherlands, it apparently makes the best to be found anywhere. And it's been doing so since 1846.
If you've been anywhere in West Africa you will have seen batik; it is the most ubiquitous clothing material around: inexpensive, comes in a variety of patterns, worn by practically everyone, especially women (wrappers, blouses, dresses, etc.).
The patterns are created by a wax-resist dying technique, an ancient art form that, in Africa, was originally practiced by the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria and the Soninke and Wolofs in Senegal.
Typically, though, the most inexpensive and most readily available examples are richly patterned on one side (that is, on the side that others see when you wear something made from batik) but "faded" on the inside. But this Dutch company's batik is truly double-sided, which is why theirs is aimed at well-to-do African women. More power to them.
A new Vlisco fashion and accessories collection is launched every quarter in the four Vlisco Boutiques in Africa. The clips here are the ads for their last two collections, the most recent being the one on top.
Pretty cool, eh?