![Jane in brown shweshwe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Jane_in_brown_shweshwe.jpg)
Shweshwe () is a
printed
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
dye
A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...
d
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
fabric
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
widely used for traditional
Southern African
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...
clothing.
Originally dyed
indigo
Indigo is a deep color close to the color wheel blue (a primary color in the RGB color space), as well as to some variants of ultramarine, based on the ancient dye of the same name. The word "indigo" comes from the Latin word ''indicum'', m ...
, the fabric is manufactured in a variety of colours and printing designs characterised by intricate geometric patterns.
Due to its popularity, shweshwe has been described as the
denim
Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weaving produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. While a denim predecessor known as dungaree has been pr ...
,
[ or ]tartan
Tartan ( gd, breacan ) is a patterned cloth consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours. Tartans originated in woven wool, but now they are made in other materials. Tartan is particularly associated with Sc ...
, of South Africa.
Name
The local name ''shweshwe'' is derived from the fabric's association with Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...
's King Moshoeshoe I
Moshoeshoe I () ( – 11 March 1870) was the first king of Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his father gain power over som ...
, also spelled "Moshweshwe". Moshoeshoe I was gifted with the fabric by French missionaries in the 1840s and subsequently popularised it.
It is also known as ''sejeremane'' or ''seshoeshoe'' in Sotho Sotho may refer to:
*Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana
* Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...
as well as ''terantala'' (derived from Afrikaans tarentaal),[ and ''ujamani'' in ]Xhosa
Xhosa may refer to:
* Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa
* Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people
See als ...
, after 19th century German and Swiss settlers who imported the ''blaudruck'' ("blue print") fabric for their clothing and helped entrench it in South African and Basotho culture.
Uses
Shweshwe is traditionally used to make dresses, skirts, aprons and wraparound clothing. Shweshwe clothing is traditionally worn by newly married Xhosa
Xhosa may refer to:
* Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa
* Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people
See als ...
women, known as ''makoti'', and married Sotho Sotho may refer to:
*Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana
* Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...
women. Xhosa women have also incorporated the fabric into their traditional ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
-coloured blanket clothing. Aside from traditional wear, shweshwe is used in contemporary South African fashion design
Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...
for women and men from all ethnic groups,[ as well as for making accessories and upholstery. It is also used in the ]United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
as a quilting
Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system. A ...
fabric.
Production
Shweshwe is manufactured with an acid discharge and roller printing technique on pure cotton calico.[ It is printed in widths of 90 cm, in all-over patterns and A-shaped skirt panels printed side by side. The fabric is manufactured in various colours including the original indigo, chocolate brown and red, in a large variety of designs including florals, stripes, and diamond, square and circular geometric patterns.][ The intricate designs are made using picotage, a ]pin
A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together.
Pin or PIN may also refer to:
Computers and technology
* Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system
** PIN pad, a PIN entry device
* PIN, a former Dutch ...
ning fabric printing technique rarely used by contemporary fabric manufacturers due to its complexity and expense, although the design effects have been replicated using modern fabric printing techniques.[
Previously imported to Southern Africa from Europe, the ]trademark
A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
ed fabric has been manufactured by Da Gama Textiles in the Zwelitsha
Zwelitsha is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It forms part of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.
History
Zwelitsha was created in 1947 as corridor township to King William's Town to provide labour for the Good Hope ...
township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
outside King William's Town
Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...
in the Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
since 1982.[ In 1992, Da Gama Textiles bought the sole rights to Three Cats, the most popular brand of the fabric made by Spruce Manufacturing Co. Ltd in ]Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, and the original engraved copper rollers were shipped to South Africa.[ Da Gama Textiles has made shweshwe from cotton imported from ]Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
and grown locally in the Eastern Cape.[
The local ]textile industry
The textile industry is primarily concerned with the design, production and distribution of yarn, cloth and clothing. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry.
Industry process
Cotton manufacturi ...
, including shweshwe production by Da Gama Textiles, has been threatened by competition from cheaper inferior quality imitations made locally and imported from China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
.[ The genuine product can be recognised by feel, smell, taste, sound, a solid colour from dyeing and trademark logos on the reverse side of the fabric, a smaller than average 90 cm fabric width and stiffness of the new fabric from traditional ]starch
Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diets ...
ing which washes out.[ As at November 2013, shweshwe production by Da Gama Textiles had reduced to five million metres per annum.][
]
In popular culture
* Jill Scott, who portrayed the main character Mma Precious Ramotswe in ''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
''The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency'' is a series of novels by Alexander McCall Smith set in Botswana and featuring the character Mma Precious Ramotswe. The series is named after the first novel, published in 1998. Twenty-two novels have been p ...
'' TV series, wore outfits made from shweshwe for the production.
See also
* African waxprints
References
Further reading
*
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External links
Shweshwe in the British Museum collection
{{fabric
Sotho culture
Xhosa culture
South African art
African clothing
Textile arts
Dresses
South African fashion
South African English
Textile arts of Africa