Sishweshwe is a cotton fabric manufactured in the traditional way using copper rollers which have patterns etched on the surface, allowing the transfer of a weak discharge solution onto the fabric.It has been said that shweshwe derived its isiXhosa name from the swishing sound it makes when the wearer walks. But Da Gama Textiles' history attributes the name to the fact that French missionaries presented King Moshoeshoe I with a gift of indigo printed cloth in the 1940s. By association with the king, the cloth was called shoeshoe - and ultimately ishweshwe.
Users are skilled at verifying the fabric's authenticity by touch, smell and taste to ensure that they are purchasing the genuine fabric and not reproduction or fake cloth.
The indigo also fades with washing in a similar manner to denim. Isishweshwe has a distinctive prewash stiffness and smell: this is inherent in its production and history, when during the long sea voyage from England to to South Africa, starch was used to preserve the fabric from the elements and gave it its characteristic stiffness. After washing, the stiffness disappears to leave behind a beautiful soft cotton fabric.
The indigo also fades with washing in a similar manner to denim. Isishweshwe has a distinctive prewash stiffness and smell: this is inherent in its production and history, when during the long sea voyage from England to to South Africa, starch was used to preserve the fabric from the elements and gave it its characteristic stiffness. After washing, the stiffness disappears to leave behind a beautiful soft cotton fabric.
Shweshwe - the ethnic-print "indigo cloth" synonymous with traditional black South African dress - has slaves, German settlers, Basotho King Moshoeshoe and the catwalks of New York woven into its story.
With its intricate indigo, white, chocolate or red African prints, it peaked as a fashion fabric in 2003, but has remained in steady demand for traditional clothing, tourism products and, surprisingly, American quilting, says marketer Helen BesterAccording to Da Gama Textiles' records, indigo cloth arrived in 1652 with the establishment of a sea port at the Cape. Slaves, Khoisan and Voortrekker women wore indigo cloth from India and Holland and later from Lancashire in the 1930s. In 1992, Da Gama purchased the sole rights to own and print the Three Cats ranges, and the copper rollers were shipped out to South Africa. Courtesy of Dagama Textiles - the home of Original Shweshwe http://www.dagama.co.za/
