A record-breaking heat wave pounds the pavement outside Malcolm X Plaza at SF State where Serten (Stefano Veca) rests on the wooden bench, donning his multicolored African clothes. Unlike most students, who are nearly topless due to the scorching sun, Serten looks comfortable in his rather heavy-looking golden blue top and matching gold cap. He pulls the edges of his dress to demonstrate its lightness and to show off openings that allow air to cool his body.
"I feel good in it and can feel the spirit in the dress," says Serten, a graduate student at SF State. "When I go to school, kids ask me, 'why are you dressed like that?' and I tell them, 'it's your clothes from Africa for Africans.'"
In 1986, Serten bought his first African outfit. He now boasts a wardrobe filled with Laces (a dress worn mostly by Nigerians), Kentes (a Ghanaian fabric) and various other collections from Africa.
"They're not constricting," he says.
The array of colors featured in African fabric is what attracted him. He also believes African clothes are masculine. When he talks about his collection, his face glows like an evening star.
"When they design a part, it's not just functional, it's a piece of art. We put them in museums," Serten says. While in Ghana two years ago, he watched a weaver do his ritual.
Serten is one among many African Americans who dress African not just for ceremonies or special occasions, but also for work and recreation. On a daily basis he spots a unique cap or dress made in Africa.
Dr. L.O. Nwozuzu, co-owner of Africa Super Shop in Oakland, attributes the fast-growing taste of African clothes to Black History Month. During this time, festivals, ceremonies and special events are held that highlight the African heritage and its contribution to world culture, Nwozuzu says.
"The white man told them Africans go naked in the jungle. When they started seeing these gorgeous dresses, all their negative thought changed. They're now eating African food. They never knew Africa had its own cuisine," Nwozuzu says. Pointing to the clothing racks he adds, "When they come and see this, I ask them, do you believe someone making this could go naked?"
African designs are steadily rising as a fashion of choice among African Americans and Africans who've adopted the European suit and tie. Even large department stores like Macy's and New York Fabrics are selling African fabrics.
Unfortunately, in West Africa, where most of the quality hand-woven designs come from, the weavers are changing for the worse. Due to heavy competition in Europe and America, where mass production is pushing many West African weavers out of business, their hand spun cotton is giving way to machine twisted yarns to keep up. Also the traditional vegetable dyes, with their mellow and subtle colors, are being replaced by the dyestuffs produced by the chemical industries of Germany, Switzerland and Japan.
According to Venice Lamb, who has written a book on West African weaving, weaving might continue for some time but its quality and repertoire of design will steadily decline.
She contends that very little research has been carried out on the subject of African weaving and, consequently very little is written, even though the products of this complex tradition of black Africa represents some of the most attractive as well as the most sophisticated expressions of artistic genius.
"European museums have tended to neglect indigenous African textiles. The major museums do have their holdings of narrow strip cloth but the collections are neither comprehensive nor are they accompanied by adequate descriptions. The tendency has been for some time to place the most emphasis on the question of social organization, kinship and so on, to the neglect of material culture," Lamb says.
While the developed world have neglected to popularize indigenous African textile, it's busy copyrighting and mass producing it in often shoddy quality.
Nwozuzu also offers free lessons on how to identify authentic African fabric from imitations. He stresses that the colors and prints identify African heritage and that the clothes are made specially for Africans.
African fabric is multicolored-it's not made of just one color like green, red and yellow. It's many colors on one cloth. Compared to European fashion, they're expensive starting with a yard of Lace at $150. But it's a yard filled with designs-gold, diamonds, you name it.
The average cost of men's clothes in Nwozuzu's shop cost between $100 to $200. Classics, such as Laces, costs as high as $500. But there is something for everyone, he says.
According to Nwozuzu, some African Americans are uncomfortable entering his shop from what he believes is lack of information about African fashion. "They've studied that everything in Africa is symbolic and that it means something or represent an idea. They've studied that Africa is a land of many gods," Nwozuzu says.
When customers come to Nwozuzu's shop, they want to know where each dress comes from and its meaning. According to Nwozuzu, African Americans who buy at his shop want to know where the fabric is made. "When they see 'Made in Holland,' they say no, 'I want one from the motherland,'" Nwozuzu says.
He says that anyone who wants to sell African clothes and artifacts have to be able to answer difficult questions. "I'm not just a businessman, I have taken the issue of educating my customers," he says.
That's not the case with Africans in the Diaspora or within the continent. "We have a taste for foreign things," Nwozuzu, who is Nigerian, says. "The trick is," he continues, "even if it's made in Africa, manufacturers stamp it made in America, made in Taiwan, so that our people buy it."
"I tell African Americans it's an irony. But it's the merchant's way of doing business," Nwozuzu says.
Whether they're authentic, hand woven or duplicated by industrialized countries, the brilliant colors and intricate designs associated with African designs seem to be catching the attention of many Americans-of all ethnicities.
Of late, the use of Kente has spread beyond the borders of the African continent to Europe and America where it has turned into shift dresses, neckties, bedspreads, curtains and other objects of attire and domestic use. Kente is but one example of the output of the narrow strip weaving complex of West Africa.
Nwozuzu says that when you have an African dress, you have a piece that you can be proud of. "I think the whole concept of African design is functionality and beauty," Serten says.
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