10 Facts About African Fashion You Might Not Know
We all love a good list and it’s even better when it’s full of simple facts.
What better way to celebrate history than knowing the simple facts, the firsts.
The first man to walk on the moon. The first Nigerian woman to drive a car. The first female president in the world. Who is the group of people that fought for independence?
It’s not only fun to know, it opens up conversations around history.
Although it is significantly harder to find African history because it was mostly word-of-mouth, we’re sharing something special.
10 facts you should know About African Fashion.
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Mande weavers and in particular the Tellem people were the first to master the art of weaving complex weft patterns into strips, a textile technique used as far back as the 11th century.
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The first forms of clothing in Africa were made from Barkcloth, furs, skins, and hides with the skins of animals chosen for symbolic significance, tribal allegiance, or personal symbols.
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The first African-American model to appear on the cover of the British edition of Vogue, in March 1966 was Donyele Luna. She was the first black supermodel to change things.
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Jewelry in Africa was typically made from Camel bones(Sudan), Amber beads(Mali), and Coconut shells (Nigeria).
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The oldest African jewelry ever discovered was found, in 2004, in the Blombos cave on the southern tip of S. Africa. They are estimated at being over 75 000 years old and are pea-sized, mollusc shell beads that had been pierced. They have worn areas indicating that they were probably once strung into a necklace or bracelet.
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The Ghana-must-go bags are getting reimagined and refashioned cause they represent a painful past, when a 1983 executive order from Nigeria's then-President Shehu Shagari, called for nearly 2 million undocumented migrants, many were Ghanaians, to abruptly leave the country. Many used the bags to transport their things and the name stuck over the years.
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Gordon Parks, a black fashion photographer, was the first African-American to direct a major motion picture and also the first Black photographer on staff at Life Magazine from 1948 to 1972.
What other facts about African Fashion do you know? Tell us in the Comment section.
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