PAGE 03
IN SEARCH OF
BUSAYO NYC LIFESTYLE
THE
PERFECT
AFRICAN
PRINT
By Busayo Olupona
Photo by Neec Nonso
FEATURE
GEORGEEEE!!! You want George? George? You
want George? The African fabric hustle in
Balogun market, Lagos’s largest market is
serious. The minute you arrive, the cries of
sellers appealing to you to buy their wares
overwhelms. The game, of course is that once
you stop, you are hooked. At Balogun, the
complexities and frankly, futility, of
constructing a singular definition of African
Prints becomes readily apparent.
The variety of available textiles is mindboggling – Kente, Angelina (the street name
for Dashiki fabric), George, Lace, Aso-oke,
Adire, Akwete and Ankara of course. The
wealth of options and embarrassment of
fabric riches illustrates Nigerians’ obsession
with textiles. The Yoruba say “Asho lan ki, ka
to ki eniyan” which loosely translates to “We
greet the clothing before we greet the person”.
This is true, right? We see and interact with
clothing first, the presentation, the person is
secondary.
NOMADIC
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