Why Kente Cloth Was Only Worn by Ashanti Kings
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For over 400 years, Kente cloth was the exclusive preserve of Ashanti royalty. The Asantehene (Ashanti king) and his chiefs wore Kente cloth at royal ceremonies, festivals, and state occasions. Common people were forbidden from wearing it.
The Royal History of Kente
According to Ashanti oral tradition, Kente cloth was first woven by two brothers, Ota Kraban and Kwaku Ameyaw, who learned the art of weaving from a spider in the Bonwire village of Ghana around 1600 AD.
The Asantehene Osei Tutu I (1670,1717) is credited with establishing Kente cloth as the royal textile of the Ashanti Kingdom. He wore it at the founding ceremony of the Ashanti Confederacy in 1701.
Kente Today
Today, Kente cloth is worn by all Ghanaians at important occasions, weddings, graduations, funerals, and festivals. It has also become a global symbol of African heritage and Pan-African pride, worn by African Americans at Juneteenth celebrations, HBCU graduations, and Black History Month events.
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About the Author
Isaac Prempeh is the founder of Afropop Socks, a British-Ghanaian designer and entrepreneur based in London. He founded Afropop Socks in 2019 to celebrate authentic African cultural heritage through bold wearable design. Afropop Socks is now stocked at the Smithsonian NMAAHC, Tate Modern, V&A Museum, Natural History Museum, Barbican Centre, Selfridges, and MoMA New York.