Written by Mina Yirga - Horizon Ethiopia Staff Writer
Sunday, 21 September 2008
The applied art of designs dedicated to clothing reigned when the ‘Shemane’ (weaver) conceived the ‘Shema’ (white fabric) into combinations of line, color and texture. By counting each thread using the simplest tools, these skillful weavers create designs from the simple yet refined tastes of the highlands to the more dashing colors of the lowlands and eastern sections of the country. Culture and clothing are somehow correlated elements. Fashion designs are reflections of cultural and social influence at a specific time in a certain place. As fashions havebegun to criss-cross international boundaries with exponential rapidity, popular styles adopted elsewhere are now incorporated into Ethiopia’s traditional clothing. The old traditional cloths that were once dedicated only to specific occasions started to be revolutionized into stylish outfits that have captivated the youth and older segments of the population alike. But what does this creeping evolution mean for the culture and clothes that manifest it?
“Evolving tastes and the comfort from donning modern fashionable dresses is what makes it preferable. You can do all types of work, run far and wide without feeling any discomfort and if you wish, you can spend your leisure time while still feeling that you are in your traditional zone but exuding a sense of modernity and fashion.” says the Progressives.
The hypnotically progressives further clarify their points as “Well fashion recycles itself. What was worn 10 or 20 years ago has now found itself in boutiques everywhere. Fashion has a way of coming back! There is no way that you can throw something away as an old rag for in a few years it may just be the style of the decade. We should embrace this cultural evolution since it fuses the old with the new and it’s another way of appreciating creativity.” Say the progressives.
The conservatives object to this ideology. In their defense, they say one cannot modernize a lookand say this is still an element of that culture. “Our culture came from the way we lived. Dresses worn to church, funerals or weddings.Cultural dresses show how our ancestors lived for hundreds of years. Modernizing cultural dress cannot come at the expense of our actual culture.
Fashion is not a two-way street. Wearing miniskirts and tank Tops, one cannot say this is culture. This is only a modern style inherited from other countries but made out of Ethiopian fabrics. We should keep our cultural clothes as they are, it’s a way of looking at the past as our heritage. Unless we do this, our cultural dresses will be a mere trace of our past found in the museum for future generations to see and say “this is how it used to be”. But it shouldn’t be like that, our cultural dress should be with us at all times, now or in the future.”
Another contemplative case cited by two opposing consumers is the shemane behind the making of the fabrics. The weavers that have devoted tremendous care, effort and time to change the cotton into fabrics. This is not a problem for the designers who take a little bit of creativity and combine it with the fabrics the weavers make to create the ‘fashionable dress’. While the modern dress designers make a fortune the shemane suffers in the inflationary times and sinking demandthat discourages passing this timeless gift to children for generations to enjoy its magic in times to come. The modern designers make a large profit selling the cloths that took little money to create, at an exorbitantly high price. While the shemane is barely able to pay the house rent. Who will make a product that doesn’t have economic profit but holds immeasurable worth in cultural value? In a short while living out on the streets will be the fate of the skillful shemane,” says a regular customer at Shero Meda.
Others argue that it is a disadvantage for the modern designers that the Shemanes are found to be unorganized with not a trace of unions or associations to reach economies of scale. As a result, designers are forced to seek out specific fabrics they need. The hustle can be an incalculable cost by itself. But if the Shemanes are organized they will get more buyers, their productivity will increase and modern designers will be forced to acknowledge the specific source where they acquired their fabrics from. Moreover most modern designers complain that their designs being copied by the Shemane’s deliberately. “I don’t want to make a hasty generalization but I have encountered some disloyal Shemane’s in my life time. I brought them up to my company so that I can pay their worth and to work with me with their talent but after a year and more they copy my design and sell it outside for a ridiculous amount. No one is going to benefit out of that except making it too difficult to work in conjunction.” a designer quoted anonymously.
“Look and fit take priority over the cost of materials. We go out shopping to find our choice of genuine and fashionable wears. Dresses should be designed to fit the interest of the social fabric. Currently, modern fashion has seen a reference to technology. The global nature of the fashionbusiness requires constant communication with suppliers, manufacturers, and customers. You need a brand name to be known. You should be inventive in order to reach out the market. You cannot do runways with the same old fashioned fabrics now and then. People like to see new designs. If your production materials are still the homemade hand-woven Ethiopian fabrics, directly or indirectly you are introducing your cultural image. You are expected to be competitive in order to expand your business. For that you need to have a strong sense of esthetic and an eye for details.That, "says our anonymous designer is why i belive in modern interpretations of our culture through design. Doing modern dresses doesn't prohibit us from involvment with the customary cultural wear. In fact, most of us do that side-by-side."
