PATTERNS

AFRICAN TRIBAL PATTERNS

In Central Africa, the main distinguishing characteristics of patterns include heart-shaped faces that are curved inward and display patterns of circles and dots. The Africans are know to be very bright and very colourful. Some of the patterns are almost like Aztec patterns, consisting of zig-zags, triangles, squares and other pointed shapes. They usually go along in a line that pile up on each other and eventually are repeated. 

African Zulu Pattern

Aztec Vs Africa

Typical African Pattern for a Basket

African Kuba Cloth Pattern

West African Patterns

Many people look at an outfit of traditional African clothes and may not realize the cultural importance that they have. There is a lot of history that is woven into garments made of traditional African textiles and the styles reflect thousands of years of cultural changes and the influence that other cultures have had on many different African tribes throughout the continent.

Now I have looked at some general African patterns, I am now going to look at the patterns on African clothing. This is so see how the patterns work and look when it comes to styling.

African Woman's Outfit

African Clothing Patterns

African Fashion, Kenya

African Fashion, Nigeria

Best Dressed African Woman Award 2010

African Zulu Fashion

 These images show me the way african fashion is worn. This will be so helpful for me to look at when I think about styling my designs. African patterns are so beautiful. They are bold, colourful and qwirky and I think these would be prefect patterns for a catwalk because they would stand out hugely. The large head wear would be really eye catching on a catwalk, and the jewellery would be amazing for an editoral shoot.

 This website is extremely helpful for research on African clothing:

http://www.allafricanclothes.com/