Flaunting Your Ankara Bags And Shoes By UKIRI CLEMENTINA EGWOLOMENA IT is high time we celebrate the Ankara fabric for the many ways it is being used for innovation in our contemporary fashion trend. This lovely fabric from the African root has won the hearts of world class fashion designers like Aldo. Ankara is one fabric that has stood the test of time and waxing stronger than ever. Gone are the days when Ankara was seen as a fabric for local men and women. These days, classy ladies go for the fabric for clothings, bags and shoes skin. Models, and celebrities alike ordinarily now attend functions with Ankara hand made bags and shoes. Flaunting the gracefulness of the fabric with pride. What else could be better than a show-off of the famous African Ankara wrapped bags and shoes? Nothing close! The shoes come in different patterns, colours and shapes. Amongst the numerous trend of shoes, you can find the Dashiki Ankara doll shoe, Norma pumps Ankara, H & M canvas flats and so on. Complementarily, there are varieties of customized Ankara bags. These come in form of Ankara hand bags; messenger bags, tote bags, laptops bags, clutches and more. A pair of the fabulous bags and shoes on your outfit can invoke the latest trend of fashion called “Colour Blocking”. It depicts one’s expression of self through colours. This is so, because the Ankara fabrics comes with numerous harsh and cool colours in one material. Making anything made with it catchy with beautiful shades of colours and patterns. This trend of fashion has not only brought innovation in the glamour world, but has provided a means of livelihood to professionals in the art. It is considered to be a very lucrative business endeavour which young women and men are venturing into. The price range of wrapping a hand bag is averagely between three thousand naira and five thousand naira. But in a situation where wrappers sell already made and wrap up the bags, the price will be between five thousand and eight thousand naira respectively. To an extent, the market value of Ankara bags are affordable compared to the technicalities of making them. According to UNAEGBU NKECHI’s account, a Benin based expert in Ankara wrapping, it takes a lot of skills and mental calculation to make Ankara bags. She further stated that the art is a form of craft that requires time, patience and the technical know how. But it is however, not a burden when you have a passion for the art. It is a craft that gives a sense of self worth and fulfillment when you realize how well to manipulate different shades of colours to create a magnificent bag, shoes and jewelries as the case may be. Most interestingly, is the fact that used old bags with peeling leather skin can be transformed into new bodies with Ankara. Nkechi explained that since most people buy new bags because they love the look of its skin and features, they wouldn’t desire to cover the skin up with Ankara, except when the skin is already going bad. This is same with shoes, she said. Ankara wrapping of old peeling bags and shoes breaths new life into them and it is a form of recycling. It helps to save people the financial ordeal of purchasing new bags for wrapping. In the words of Nkechi, the bulk of the work she has done, were on used bags and shoes. So, remember that, you can have your bag wrapped with Ankara for as low as three thousand naira.
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 08:55:47 +0000