ANKARA has been very popular on the red carpet since last year. Ankara are vibrant patterns of very rich colorful designes. Mostly made of 100% cotton or cotton poly material. This wax resist dyed fabric was exported to the gold coast, referred as Dutch was from Holland. It spreaded over west Africa into central africa and were largely produced in Nigeria. Originally, Ankara was reserved for cultural festivities. It acquired its current name Ankara when the turks made a cheaper version of the fabric.
Africans use these bold festive fabrics to tell stories, poems and traditional african tales. Depending on the pattern of the design a specific name is given; for example you will often hear people refer to the different design names like, oeil de ma rivale (my rival's eye), mon mari m'a laisse( my husband left me)
Now those are examples of the ones from Ivory Coast, names may vary in other African countries.
Earlier this year when the fabric was spotted on celebs like Beyonce, Alicia Keys , Fergie and many more many young african designers and fashionistas had mix feelings, happy for the spotlight our culture was getting, but hated the fact that BOXING KITTEN( designer of beyonce and Alicia famous Ankara outfits) was getting all the credit for something that they( the Africans) have been around this fabrics and designs for so long, they were questioning the authenticity.
Well, as for me ,an african girl myself, I'm just happy our fabrics went from being regarded as the fabric of the poor to become a choice of the rich and famous. I mean the girl( Boxing Kitten), in no way,said she reinvented Ankara, so I'm good with that as long as you gave the proper aknowledgement.
Enough said here are some pics of my favorites...
this is my favorite from her collection. I like the way she mixes her colors
Gwen Stefani in her own design ( Lamb)spring|summer 2011
Lamb spring\summer 2011
Khady in my design
my designs again...
So thats it for now, fashion-lovers...hmmmmm..I ll take more pics of me in my african clothes for y'all but until then, stay beautiful,and blessed!!!!!!
OH i was gonna forget about this one....FULANI earrings....I mean what do you know?! These earrings
are hand-crafted in Mali, West Africa. Its no wonder this babies are getting attention, as I said in a previous post accessories always give the WOW factor to any outfit, and theses earrings,vibrantly stand out. Fulani earrings are one of the most-talked about pieces of jewelry from Africa. Apparently , they are so popular, it’s hard to keep them in stock, especially since there are only a few people who make them now....
are hand-crafted in Mali, West Africa. Its no wonder this babies are getting attention, as I said in a previous post accessories always give the WOW factor to any outfit, and theses earrings,vibrantly stand out. Fulani earrings are one of the most-talked about pieces of jewelry from Africa. Apparently , they are so popular, it’s hard to keep them in stock, especially since there are only a few people who make them now....
can be found on ebay , oh I found some on Polyvore.com http://www.polyvore.com/fulani_earrings_at_goldcoastafrica.com_17/thing?id=12713239
modern version by Phillys Woods
original fulani earrings
Aisha Tyler rocking hers
You can find those fulani earrings that you can also mix with bangles and necklaces in the shop online Karuni or in their retailers boutiques at http://www.karuni.co.uk/s/3669_fulani-jewelry
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