Indigenous Ewe kente designs in contemporary Ghanaian fashion

Abstract

Indigenous weavers have long existed in the Ewe-land of Ghana and noted for creating cultural and aesthetically functional fabrics. Unlike Asante Kente cloth designs, there is little documentation on the Ewe Kete cloth designs particularly that of the Klikor people. However, this study investigates and documents indigenous Kete cloth designs of the Ewe land and its spot in contemporary Ghanaian fashion. The study is a Qualitative research which used ethnographic case study design to obtain data through observations and interviews from a purposeful sample of sixteen (16) respondents (weavers, elders, dressmakers) from the Klikor-Agbozume community. With a thematic analysis, findings reached that the indigenous Klikor Kete cloths possess some adorable characteristics which can easily be blended into contemporary cloth designs to meet the demands and taste of modern fashion lovers. A detailed documentation such as this study will educate the current and future generation of weavers, fashion designers and dressmakers to appreciate indigenous Klikor Kete designs thereby adopting it for contemporary fashion culture. I recommended to Ghanaian fashion experts to put on top priority, documenting frequently Klikor Kete to promote its symbolic and figurative designs to help promote the Ewe couture and fashion as well as improve tourism in the Klikor-Agbozume community.