As I share street style images from New York’s recent fashion week event, I can’t think of a better time to segue into a less popular, yet incredibly interesting style story: The style story of the people of Accra.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to share their fashion story with you because I find that it is something truly beautiful and inspiring. The vibrant colors of a kente, the beautiful lace seamed together in a kaba and slit, the batakaris, the beaded flip-flops, Ghana has always been rich in style, yet the people of Accra themselves, including many I interviewed, would be quick to tell you that fashion is of little importance to them.
It was a statement I found rather interesting. The everyday Ghanaian is surprisingly more hands-on when it comes to the style of his/her garments than say your favorite style blogger. After sitting through the chatter of countless customer and seamstress interactions in local boutiques while waiting my turn to be heard and measured, I’ve surveilled many secret moments, perhaps unbeknownst to the customers themselves, of sartorial fervor as they threw in one instruction after the other of which side of the dress should be brought in and how far up slits should go. The cheesy grins on their faces as they excitedly twirled a little practice dance in the mirror in anticipation for the occasion they designed the dress for, the sparkle in their eyes, indistinguishable from that of those I interviewed on the streets who described their style to me with so much enthusiasm all while reiterating that indifference to fashion.
It got me curious! Yes, some may be true, and a lot may be modest, but perhaps, and more seriously, some may also be the product of faulty comparisons. You see, unlike a lot of us who simply consume fashion by, for example, buying what we see on the racks of Zara and H&M, the Ghanaian woman is very much a part of all the details that go into making the dress she wears. She goes to the market to shop for the fabric, sifting through a variety of prints, patterns, and colors. She already has an occasion in mind for the dress: a wedding, a child’s naming ceremony, her Christmas dress (bronya atade), or white for the first Sunday of the year. Then she runs it off to a dressmaker to discuss the style. She is the director of her style.
Every Ghanaian man or woman has at least one outfit in their closest in which they had some say in its creative direction.
So, for several people to say that they are not really into fashion when it is, in fact, a big part of the culture perhaps alludes to a bigger problem of seeing fashion as a foreign concept only regulated and understood by a Western market because of what is consistently shown to us as mainstream (I admit that I may be part of the problem here).
That is why if this exploration into the style story of Accra serves any purpose, I hope that it would at the very least speak to the inadequacies of “fashion” to ever be a “one size fits all” but instead a language of a people and a time, shifting from place to place, consumed and appreciated for its diversity above or else while “style” remains to be understood as the beautiful ways in which fashion speaks.
Below some street style looks from Accra
I think of color when I’m picking an outfit, but I also think of texture. It can be quite sunny here, so I always think of if the texture will work for the weather. I like fashion, but I’m not really into it. I love both Western and African fashion and mixing the two and I think more Ghanaians especially celebrities should patronize more made in Ghana goods
This dress was my idea. I had a ton of fabric left from a dress I made, so I just added a piece to the bottom of this dress. I’m not really into fashion. but if anything is nice I would wear it!
I love wearing black and anything that keeps me comfortable. My friends made this shirt, and I just love to wear it around in case other people want to buy it.
The thing is I love beads, so I create just about anything with them! I’ve made wallets, bow-ties and a whole lot with it! It was an idea I had straight out of Fashion school
I can see that Ghanaians love fashion designing, but I think we Togolese are more into it than Ghanaians.
I had my outfit sewn. Today was my first day of the new year at work and I wanted to look nice…wait till you see the shoes I paired with it.
I’m from Rwanda! I’d say one of the major differences between fashion in Rwanda and that of Ghana is that they have recently canceled all Western clothes coming into Rwanda, so they now promote more local tailors to make their own clothes and fashion, whereas in Ghana they’ve always been promoting their own fashion. The women especially wear their own fabrics and designs.
I think Africa should stick to their own clothes because our clothes are more beautiful than Western clothes.
My style is fabulous, fearless, and flamboyant! I’m very proud when I have my African print on. Ghana has some really great fabrics—all you need is a good designer. I think every Ghanaian should support the agenda of promoting Ghanaian fabrics because we have very beautiful fabrics