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Canadian Anthropology Society (CASCA)
Oral Presentation Session
M. Edoh
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Global Studies and Languages
Colloquially known as “African print,” wax cloth has become a marker of African-ness since its introduction to West African markets in the late 19th century. Among existing varieties of wax cloth, Dutch wax is the oldest, and in many West African countries, the most highly valued. In 2006, Vlisco, the Holland-based, long-time manufacturer of Dutch Wax cloth, launched a rebranding exercise to remake itself from a manufacturer of textiles for Africa into a luxury design and fashion brand for global markets. This paper considers how the remaking of Dutch Wax cloth from African print to “design” played out not only discursively, in brand communications, but also in the aesthetic of the designs themselves. Drawing from ethnographic research conducted with Vlisco designers and branding professionals in Holland as well as sellers and consumers of Dutch Wax cloth in Togo between 2013 and 2017, the paper links studies of cross-cultural commodity circulation with scholarship on branding and material culture to throw light on the negotiation of “African-ness” as both brand value and visual/material quality. This case illustrates branding as a material practice that manifests not only in brand communications, but also in the makeup of commodities themselves. Moreover, in a moment when the increasing visibility of African cultural forms on the global stage can be read as a sign of a shift in Africa’s place in the world, Dutch Wax cloth’s material and semiotic remaking as a commodity for global markets speaks to enduring questions about the status of “the African sign.”