Kente: Woven Meaning, and How We Use It

What it is

Kente is woven on narrow-strip looms by Asante and Ewe weavers in Ghana, from silk and cotton, in strips that are then sewn together. Historically it was royal cloth, restricted in who could wear which pattern.

Each design has a name and a proverb or history attached. That is the part most often lost when kente is printed onto polyester and sold by the yard — printed "kente" is a picture of a cloth, not the cloth. It is not dishonest to wear it, but it is not the same object, and we do not describe it as kente.

Why we use it as accent

Two reasons, one practical and one about restraint.

The practical one: real kente is expensive and heavy, and a full garment is a serious commission. Most clients who ask for kente want the colour and the weave to register, not to be wearing four metres of it.

The other: kente is loud by design, and it reads more powerfully against something quiet. A kente yoke on a plain shirt, a cuff on a jacket, a sash over a simple gown, a collar and pocket detail — each of these lands harder than a full length, and costs a fraction.

If you do want a full kente piece we will make it, and we will source genuine woven cloth rather than print.

Wearing it respectfully

Some patterns are associated with specific occasions, families or chieftaincy. If you are commissioning kente for a particular event, tell us and we will ask the supplier which design is appropriate — it takes one message and it means you are wearing the cloth as it is meant to be worn.

This matters more for kente than for the other cloths we work with, because its patterns are a language rather than a decoration.