I think it’s fine.”But, Lake said, there is an important distinction between non-Black buyers using their money to support Black designers and non-Black designers using African-associated prints to make money for themselves. For Olukoya, Ankara print clothing counters the narratives that too often associate much of Africa with poverty and disease. For Elabor, who moved to the United States from Nigeria as a child, it is important that any designer who popularizes African print be of African descent. She is grateful for the attention but finds it hard to think about the reason so many Black designers are suddenly being given the spotlight. With the notable exception of kente cloth, many recognisable African prints today are based on Indonesian batiks.

Source: bd News24 August 11, 2020 11:03 UTC