1. “Kente” is a word in the Ashanti language of Ghana, which means “basket”. Ironically, the Ashanti people call the Kente fabric “nwentoma” which means “woven cloth”.
2. Authentic Kente fabric is woven by the Ewe and Ashanti tribes in Ghana.
3. The Kente cloth is known as the fabric with the most complicated weavings in the world.
4. The Ashantis learned Kente weaving from the Ewe people (Ghana, Togo and Benin). The Ewe people named the cloth “ke te”; describing the complicated manner the cloth is woven.
5. In the Ewe language “ke na te” is the process of making the cloth. In the weaving process you open (“ke”) the weft, pass the waft through it, and press (“te”). This process is repeated hundreds of time.
6. The Kente cloth Weaver weaves the yarn on a narrow strip of 3-5inches wide and 5-6feet long.
It takes about a day to weave just one strip. These strips are then woven together to make a larger piece of cloth.
7. According to tradition, only men weave the Kente cloth while women sew the fabric strips together.
8. Initially, in the past, Kente cloth was worn by and reserved for royalty and important people in the society and also for special occasions and ceremonies.
9. In the past, Kente was only woven with silk yarn but these days you can have cotton and rayon; making it more available.
10. Kente cloth can be used to make dresses, jackets, shirts, hats, jewellery, scarves, ties, stoles, shoes, sandals, sneakers, bags, table runners, furniture and many more!
