Hand made Akwete fabric.

 

Do you know that we have hand made fabrics/materials made in Akwete in Abia State. It is called the Akwete Fabric.

AKWETE FABRIC

Akwete is a small town in Abia State, Eastern Nigeria. This town is renowned for and actually named after their traditional weaving methods because they produce “Mkpuru Akwete” which directly translates as “Akwete fabric”. Arriving in the town, you are immediately confronted with a statue of a traditional weaver. This craft is the source of the town’s pride and income.

Award winning writer Chimamanda Adichie wearing the Akwete fabric. 

The Akwete fabric is a hand woven indigenous fabric, which has been known to be quite useful to the Ndoki clan for many years. In fact on the 19th of March 1990, Prince Charles and Princess Diana brought the fabric into limelight and international recognition by commissioning the local fabric.

Governor of Anambra state and his entire family rocking the Akwete fabric. 

Akwete cloth became popular when Abia State became a center of palm oil and kernel trade. The people of Igboland began trading Akwete cloth for all sorts of products with people of other regions and ethnicities, and the cloth’s fame spread. The women who make Akwete cloth usually start doing so at a very young age.

British Prime Minister Theresa May wearing the Akwete fabric. 

While the drive for a more sustainable fashion industry might just be picking up in the rest of the world, it has been the norm in Akwete for a very long time. I examined closely the various stages of their production of the Akwete fabric and I could find no downside; every principle of ethical and sustainable fashion was upheld.

For instance, according to the tradition of the Akwete people, only women may weave the Mkpuru Akwete. This is to afford the women a source of empowerment that can never be taken away by society, no matter how patriarchal it gets. This rule is taken so seriously that there are rumors of actual curses to be met by any man who intervenes in the weaving process. The weaving in the community is managed on a bigger scale by a co-operative society set up and run by the women. This co-operative society sets agenda on issues such as the fabric quality, and Copyright (yep, you read that right) while each woman produces what she wants on her own. Almost all families have looms on their balconies for the women to weave and not only are these women empowered, their voices are well protected with regards to the progress of their trade.

Originally, the Mkpuru Akwete was woven from hemp and raffia but in keeping with the times, most of these women now use durable embroidery thread, produced and imported into the country from China. This is the only aspect of the value chain I found not managed by the community; even their looms were made from wood, sourced locally from the raffia palm and built by their men (who are permitted to build but forbidden to weave). 

Akwete has also managed to acquire mass market status. It is true that certain complex designs are made only on order, but the Akwete fabric can be found in various markets all over Nigeria, as well as in other African markets across the continent. Akwete has existed for millennia. It has been marketed all over the world and been worn at different times by prominent people, one of whom was the former British Prime Minister. 

If you needed any more proof here is it; ethical and sustainable fashion is clearly achievable on a global scale. The people directly involved in the production process, and not just the brand, must see the work they do as more than just another product. The “Mkpuru Akwete” for instance is not just any fabric to these women, but their heritage and a way of life. It represents their survival form the oppressions of an unbending patriarchal system, their subsequent empowerment and the resultant creativity. Therefore, producing these fabrics in any way less than ethical is simply not acceptable. That’s why their products are well-sought after and the reason their fabrics will always be bought.