African print (Ankara) has taken a huge leap from the streets of West Africa to the hottest red carpets, videos and runways around the world.
Celebs like Beyonce Knowles, Rihanna, Fergie and Kelis have championed the cause for some time now, with Kelis rocking print fashion from African designer…Jewel by Lisa on a number of occasions.
Last year for her Spring/Summer 2011 collection singer turned designer Gwen Stefani presented a collection that featured mainly Ankara fabric…She wasn’t the only one however, last year African print was the theme on most of the runways…they called it tribal print. I call it Ankara because that’s what my momma, my grandmother and every other West African woman who use the fabric call it.
It’s about time West African fashion/fabrics got some mainstream recognition. I just wish that apart from Jewel by Lisa & Deola Sagoe, other African designers who are masters at manipulating Ankara fabrics are the ones getting paid to showcase their designs.
The Boxing Kitten, Suno & LAMB designs seen on Beyonce, Solange, Rihanna & Fergie are all from American designers. But I guess this is the story of Africa.The foreigners take our creativity and benefit off it while our people (the true originators) continue to wallow in poverty.
Check out the pictures below of western Celebrities rocking “Ankara”…and tell us who rocked it?
i would say beyonce but she has some serious camel toe, her sista looks well nice, rihanna hot mess, didnt try at all, ? for kelis, gwen looks nice, and alicia keys looks good to
That camel toe is hard to miss! LOL
I love Bey but her and Khloe Kardashian are always rocking serious camel toe.
I love Gwen’s dress…without the tights.
And yeah Solange & Alicia are killing it.
http://www.that1960chick.com
LOL. Camel toe. She knew it will show. Lots of meat to go around.
I think Beyonce rocked it de best
WHAT MAKES YOU SAY THAT
I will go for Solange…She is rocking it for me… As you mentioned, these foreigners come for stuff like fabrics with African origin and make a big deal out of it, crediting it as theirs…
It is so sad that at a time that these western big celebs are rocking African prints, our African celebs are dying and telling lies to rock foreign designs… It seems foreigners easily get the value of African stuff whiles we hunger for western stuff…
Good write-up That1960chick! 😉
Beyonce is always looking gud in evrythg..dem hot celebrities r rocking those african prints..dats their roots..
I agree. Beyonce. I like her “Togolese-green” design. Kelis… looks like a tranny to me.
Solange does it better becos hers is simple and neat. She looks good too. It is great to see our African prints representing on bigger platforms. It looks good on these celebs. Hope our local champions will also start appreciating and wearing our prints more
well spoken
AND YOU WILL BE SEEING MORE HOLLYWOOD PPL WEARING THIS FABRIC THIS YR AND THE NXT BECAUSE APPARENTLY THE THEME FOR BEYONCE’S NEW ALBUM IS AFRICAN SO WE ARE SUPPOSED TO EXPECT MORE AFRICAN THEMED CLOTHES
real talk i agree with you on that
first place alicia Keys than Solange Knowles, kelis just look like a mad woman and riri pffffffff what was she thinking
I will give it to Gwen, for her to rock Ankara, thats big. I mean they all rock it well.
beyonce then solange 🙂
i liked solange’s cus da style and pop of colour was flawless on her n i liked alicia’s and kellis.. i saw alicia and beyonce’s styles on dis international website and they were saying da print was from brazil or sumfin i was like de brazilians wish they made those prints. dey shld come to africa n they will see us rockn our own prints made by us..
For some reason, I feel like they r making our beautiful fabric become more local and cheap…when western take something from Africa, I feel like they always mess it up…beyonce need to get over herself…I think solange and keys looks good though….hmmm
Solange defo….love it though Gwen’s version is very traditional. I would wear solange or Gwen’s version. Nice post 1960’s! 😉
Thanks guys for the comments.
This is my 1st post on GC! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gwen, Beyonce & Alicia are all rocking it but Solonge rocks it best.
alicia.is rocking it like she understand the concept. solange’s is too simple she could have played around the dress better and queen B put the ‘cash’ in ‘casual’. the rest are not bad but seem they were afraid to cause fashion ‘faux pas’ resulting in an actual ‘faux pas’.lol i stand corrected.:)
wayy to go. good JOb
Alicia Keys is a husband snatcher. No amount of African string fibre can weave her character to embody what is truly representative of a decent woman. .
ooo pls ..switz beatz was seperated from his wife already before they both met …
though the woamn claim different but switz beatz always said they werent together anymore when Alicia came …
Beyonce and Solange rock
It is natural for human beings to look forward. Our eyes naturally look ahead. In this sense, we are made for moving toward a goal.[♥]
huh??? what are u talking abt?
thats the same thing i was asking myself BB
He/she seems to be on a different planet.
@BB another lost soul unless she can explain what she mean by that
lol. this could only make sense if its a respond to Joseph midnight’s comment other than that………… i guess its shear ambiguity.
and what kind of stupid name is ANKARA who gave it that name. Opps my bad is those damn nigerians who still claim it when we ghanaians and ivorians have been advocating and wearing dutch wax and print for decades. Now if you go to boards like Bellanaija – they claim with full force its theirs and that they are the pioneers of this print. Nkwasiasem
that is what this world is, we never appreciate what we have. i guess when u have it, u get tired of it. the western want Africans stuff because they are not used to having it, so it became something valuable to them. so do Africans like western stuff
Gwen and alicia rock
Solange & Gwen did it 4 me.Alicia Keyes is also not luking bad @ all.
Alicia & Gwen, then Beyonce, Kelis, and the rest
Alicia ,B ,solange ,Gwen rocks it better …kelis`s ..hmmm ..not feeling it …
but guys is really sad how ghanaians have been making clothes wit this fabric for so long but yet these celebrities are now rocking it like its all their and their ideas.
Beyonce !
Am really impress by the way some of the foreign celebrities are in our local outfit,i think it cool and nice…THAT IS THE WAY WE LIKE IT…
where do black americans come from, i mean what’s the deal with them wearing it. Why would ppl here be celebrating President Obama if Africa meant nothing to black Americans.. i dont get it?ppl act like the girl who mad the clothes doesnt have a right. Or does American mean only white, since everything in america is european inspired anyway..oops my bad.