by Jameelah Mullen
November 14, 2025
Copycats beware.
Kente material, the colourful woven cloth originating from the Ashanti, Akan, and Ewe individuals of Ghana, has lengthy symbolized wealth, royalty, and tribal id. Over time, its cultural significance has unfold throughout the African diaspora. As we speak, replicas of Kente produced outdoors Ghana are extensively out there. Ghana is now taking steps to shield its genuine custom and arise in opposition to copycats.
Final month, the Ghanaian authorities introduced that Kente has formally acquired geographical indication standing by means of the World Mental Property Group, an arm of the United Nations that collaborates with the World Commerce Group. This safety goals to safeguard native artisans and the textile’s heritage by making certain that solely Kente material woven in Ghana is acknowledged as genuine.
Susan Scafidi, founder and tutorial director of the Vogue Regulation Institute, stated that whereas geographical indication standing is just like a trademark, imposing it is determined by each public strain and authorities assist.
“It’s a difficult matter that does elevate the query of how we steadiness the fluidity of tradition and the enjoyment of cultural interchange with recognizing origin and authorship at that collective stage,” Scafidi advised The New York Occasions.
Whereas traditionally Kente was a sacred cloth worn by royalty, its reputation has expanded all through the diaspora, particularly in the USA, the place variations of the design seem on commencement stoles, luggage, T-shirts, and different clothes. British-Ghanaian designer Daniel-Yaw Miller believes it displays Black Individuals’ want to reconnect with African roots.
“It’s a technique to signify a connection to the motherland even within the absence of particular, direct relations again there,” Yaw-Miller advised The Occasions.
After a number of killings of Black Individuals by police in 2020, Democrats in Congress, together with Consultant Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer, confirmed assist for the Black Lives Matter motion by sporting Kente material and taking pictures on one knee. The group confronted backlash, with many critics accusing them of cultural appropriation.
As Kente material continues to achieve world reputation, Scafidi defined that establishing a geographical indication will assist guarantee native artisans obtain each cultural acknowledgment and monetary rewards from its widespread sale.
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