A new trade war is unrolling across Africa: a battle between Chinese textile-makers and a colonial-era company from the Netherlands, original maker of the eye-catching “Dutch Wax” fabrics often known as “Africa Wax.”
Little known at home or anywhere else in Europe, the house of Vlisco is one of Africa’s most-known brands, suppliers since 1846 of the bright cloths stamped with extravagant designs that are a hallmark of the continent.
But China’s deepening foray into Africa has upset the makers of “Guaranteed Dutch Wax,” who say workaholic Chinese are copying their designs as soon as they hit ports to dump cheaper low-quality lookalikes on African marketplaces.
PHOTO: AFP
“For the price of a yard [meter] of Vlisco, you can buy eight to 10 copies,” said Ed Hessing, the company’s sales manager. “The competition from China is a threat.”
“We must defend ourselves against dirt-cheap Chinese copies. We aim to become the top high-end fashion brand of Africa,” Hessing said.
Striving to become a luxury brand in impoverished Africa in times of economic turbulence might sound outlandish but is exactly what the old established Dutch firm is up to.
For the first time in 160 years, the company this week threw its collection of fabrics onto a Paris catwalk for a crowd of several hundred people in the hopes of grabbing the spotlight in the world’s fashion capital.
“We want to create a buzz around our fabrics,” said Hessing, who says the original Dutch cloth is far hardier than the imitation roller-printed version.
The real thing lasts 15 years and is color-fast, he said.
Inspired by Indonesia’s batik method of dying cloth, a Dutch merchant family called the Van Vissingens industrialized the method in Europe in the 19th century. By the late 1800s they were supplying the bulk of the Indonesian market as well as selling in West African ports where Dutch freighters set anchor.
Popular from the start in fabric-loving Africa, the Dutch-made cloth continues to come bearing a stamp saying “Vlisco Guaranteed Dutch Wax,” an imprint that often features proudly in finished garments — just as Westerners like to flaunt logos such as D&G or Nike.
“Through the ages African women have really appreciated Dutch designs, even over the African designs on the market,” said Annette Schmidt, curator of an exhibition on African wax at the Dutch National Ethnology Museum.
Vlisco, which describes itself as the biggest textile company in the Netherlands, has a dozen-odd designers among its staff of 500 — but not a single artist is African.
“We don’t try to make our designs African,” the firm’s creative director Henk Bremer said. “But there seems to be a click with Dutch design, I think it is because West Africans like innovation and novelty.”
At the Paris show, the company paraded its own designs cut in its latest collection of fabrics as well as outfits by three young African stylists, winners each of a 5,000 euro Vlisco fashion prize.
“Africa is evolving, Africa is modernizing,” Bremer said. “They use our designs as their inspiration.”
Patterns might incorporate mobile phones, computers, modern kitchens and roller skates.
“I saw the roller skate design on women in villages in Mali who I’m sure had never seen a real one, but I guess they saw the humor,” Schmidt said.
“All popular designs are named and have a specific meaning” said Bremer, adding that most often the fabrics were given names by local saleswomen.
Thus a design featuring human eyes is “the eyes of my rival” and one of a recurring bedroom suite known as “come to my bedroom on your sandals.” With these decades of knowhow behind it, and a 100 million euro (US$131.9 million) turnover last year, Vlisco is fighting back to entrench its foothold in Africa.
To maintain its edge, staff are turning out new collections of fabrics every three months now, giving competitors less time to copy.
And the company is moving away from street-market booths selling bolts of fabric to instead offer ready-to-wear lines in “flagship” boutiques opened last year in Benin and Togo and this month in Ivory Coast.
New stores are planned for Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo later this year, with one in Paris next year, Hessing said.
“We want to reach the African diaspora in Europe now,” he said.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
DEEP-STRIKE CAPABILITY: The scenario simulated a PLA drill that turned into an assault on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, with the launchers providing fire support Taiwan yesterday conducted this year’s first military exercises at Longsiang Base in Taichung, demonstrating the newly acquired High Mobility Artillery Rocket System’s (HIMARS) ability to provide fire support and deep-strike capabilities. The scenario simulated an attack on Penghu County, with HIMARS trucks immediately rolling into designated launch areas and firing barrages at the Wangan (望安) and Cimei (七美) islands, simulating the provision of fire support against invading forces. The HIMARS are supposed to “fire and leave,” which would significantly increase personnel and equipment survivability, a military official said. The drill simulated an exercise launched by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern
RSS