With Eastern, African and Western origins, Vlisco fabrics, Afro Dutch Oriental, exemplifies the “urban nomad” trend.
Marguerite Mavros Macdonald unpacks this trend in the SPRING FLING edition of VISI. However, with fashion and decor cross-pollinating more and more, we asked our editor-at-large, fashion blogger Malibongwe Tyilo, to tell us more.
Vlisco possibly has one of the least threadbare stories around. “Born in Indonesia, designed in the Netherlands, loved in Africa, desired in the West” is one of the descriptions on the website. The Dutch wax print company has been around since 1846.
To say that their fabrics and prints are popular in African fashion would be an understatement; Vlisco prints have become the quintessential African fashion print, especially in West and Central Africa. In fact one would be forgiven for thinking that they are an African brand. “Vlisco is not an African brand, it’s a design brand that Africans love,” explains creative director Roger Gerards.
In addition to on-going collaborations with African designers, Vlisco has also worked with well-known international designers like John Galliano, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Junya Watanabe in the wake of the catwalk popularity of African-inspired fashion. Along with new print ranges that are launched every three months, the company now also produces a small fashion collection of its own, including clothes, bags, shoes and jewellery. The collection is not for large-scale retail, but to inspire designers and consumers, available in limited quantities at selected Vlisco boutiques.
Their new Funky Grooves campaign features print-blocked outfits in geometric prints that cover a range of colour trends; from the browns to the greens, blues, golds, yellows and, the all-important, berry tones. Print-blocking is of course one of the most significant trends in fashion right now, a sort of move on from the now ubiquitous colour-blocking of yesteryear. We can’t imagine that there is a better brand out there to explore this trend right now. When done in ‘African Prints’ the trend looks just right. | vlisco.com
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