II.4.4.f. TEXTILES, TAILORS AND ROOTS

MENU:  2.4.4.f. Textiles. Tailors. Roots

TEXTILES ARE EASY TO PRODUCE AND TRANSPORT, DO NOT BREAK OR SPOIL AND DEMAND FOR THEM IS INFINITE

 

Like coiffures, they drive the « looks » that bring shops, tailors and inspiration from African roots.

 Afrique Mode
77 rue Doudeauville

Bazin de Fouta

20 rue Polonceau

Kumasi market

39bis, rue Doudeauville 

Textiles and their ramifications

• "Wax" prints, symbols of Africa

• Shops for notions dot the streets

• Young tailors' energy

• Embroidery, a royal ornamentation

• Marché Saint-Pierre, the textile hub next door

• African creations

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"Wax" prints, symbols of Africa

"WAX" PRINTS, A SYMBOL OF AFRICA

THOUGH USUALLY MADE IN HOLLAND, CHINA OR INDIA, 

IT DEPENDS ON AFRICAN TASTES  

Internet, no photographer named

The term "wax" comes from wax used to make Indonesian batik. The population rejected Dutch industrial copies...

Zoom

But soldiers from what is now Ghana liked them and brought them home (toward 1900).

# # # 

The six-foot rectangle with no right or wrong side ties around the waist or is made into an outfit:

At the Cartier Fondation 

 

At the Eastern Station and the place de l'Italie mall (in the 13th)

La Goutte d'Or

# # #

They can send a message:

"Stay away from my man!"

Emigration

#  #  #

Worn throughout sub-Saharan Africa and outside it almost only by Africans, wax recently appeared...

• In an art gallery photo...

In Saint-Germain des Près, known for its galleries of contemporary art

• At the Louvre...

• It is sold and worn throughout La Goutte d'Or:

At la Goutte d'Or

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Shops for notions dot the streets

SHOPS FOR NOTIONS DOT THE STREETS

THEY ARE PART OF THE AMBIANCE 

Le Monde de Nabate 
2 rue Léon

Kheweul
7 rue Stephanson

Diam international

45 rue Myrha

# # #

A luminous, family-owned shop that replaces zippers, sharpens scissors, makes small repairs and sells lining, zippers, thread, buttons, pins to sew on a vest and even recycled sewing machines:

La Grande Mercerie Château Rouge

31 bis rue Myhra

"STUDENTS, - 50% on your alterations

Religious  cloths. You can personalize your order" (cushions, table runners, bedspreads, pajamas etc.)"

Adapted from a Google map 

 

More later.

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Next,

Young tailors' energy

YOUNG TAILORS' ENERGY

  

THEY WORK FOR A COUTURIER OR JOIN A WORKSHOP IN A PLACE KNOWN FOR COUTURE AS FAR AS AFRICA ITSELF

They rent sewing machines for 2-300€ a month in a system that is illegal but tolerated, because of the work it provides:

Senegal's Issa N'Domane Sy sings in Fulani, Wolof and French. Between concerts he works for couturiers.

Entire families may depend on them and their lives are precarious,

but they are always cordial and cheerful:

Fadel Couture

15 rue Affre

Sow Poullo Couture

40 rue Cave

-- "Can I take a picture?"

-- "Yes, as many as you like!" said the couturier in red in the rear of the workshop with a big smile.

A friend sits at the entry. The workshops seem as convivial as the beauty salons.

Atelier Diom Lamine

38 rue Cave

The workshops are messy...

Lack of space can mean working on the floor...

Yet the well-done work expresses the individuality of the client, who imagines the outfit with the tailor:

           Ojabtex                                        Atelier Dom Lamine

              Formerly at 30 rue des Gardes                                     38 rue Cavé                                              

Atelier rue Jean Richard

Rue Jean Richard

I have sat in on many of these sessions — I'm in the mirror, taking the picture

.

# # #

The tailors recall times when the wealthy created their attire with a couturier, as Zola describes in The Kill. 

The practice declined after 1920, when a manufacturer mass-produced a dress from Chanel. He took a risk — would women wear the same thing? 

# # #

This couture is colorful, ornamented and of simple cut. 

Its interest: Impact and individual expressiveness.

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Embroidery, a royal ornamentation

EMBROIDERY, A ROYAL ORNAMENTATION

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION: TRADITIONAL SYMBOLS AND ARAB CALLIGRAPHY

In Rois d'Afrique ("Kings of Africa") by Daniel Lainé, 2000 (ed. Arthaud) / zoom

A Mossi king ( Burkina Faso) 

Museum of Primal Arts, Paris

# # #

Now, even everyday wear is often embroidered:

  Maison Iba                                              Une scène du 13e

           27 rue Richomme, La Goutte d'Or

Or it is festive. Most embroiderers adapt catalogue designs by using a machine...

Noor Textile

3 rue des Poissonniers

Atelier Diom Lamine

38 rue Cavé

Atelier Ngom

14 rue Ernestine

But Fadel embroiders his own designs by hand: 

Exhibit Venise en fête at the Musée Cognac-Jay

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 Next,

Marché Saint-Pierre, the textile hub next door