Exile hones Liberian flair for design

Monrovia / AFP

After almost 200 years of Western influence on their clothes, Liberians are revelling in a style revolution, designing and tailoring their own edgy creations with prints and cuts influenced by their African neighbours.
Until 2003, when a peace deal ended 14 years of devastating civil war, tens of thousands of Liberians had been living as refugees in Ivory Coast, Ghana and Guinea. Since then, most of them have returned, bringing with them fashion influences that have translated into a vibrant homegrown industry.
Increasingly visible across the country are a wave of unique Liberian creations, which are rapidly eclipsing the once-popular combination of polo shirts, jeans and hoodies. Back home, Liberians began asking tailors to stitch them clothes like the ones they had grown used to in Conakry or Abidjan, where people habitually wear traditional west African styles.
“The long stay of many Liberians in other African countries during the war (was) where they saw different ways of dressing,” designer Agatius Coker said. These days, chic in Liberia means channelling a vibrant fierce elegance — from edgy “resort pants” slit to the thigh, to bright print shirts, or “handkerchief” dresses paired with head wraps.
One of Coker’s key markets is traditional African wedding celebrations, attire for which is now as sought after as the outfits for a standard European wedding. “The cloth is produced in African countries, we buy it and do the design here and the sewing,” he said.
A breathable, loose-fitting cotton suit costs between $60 and $80 (53 and 71 euros), and a print shirt around $35. “We are less expensive than the European styles that cost $120 and above,” Coker added, and in the extreme humidity “the African styles are adapted to our weather.”
Sub-Saharan Africa’s oldest republic, Liberia was founded by the United States in 1822 for freed American slaves, the descendants of whom still dominate political and economic life. Over the generations, the local tribes living in Liberia largely adopted the dress of these American settlers, explaining the sartorial leanings of this west African nation.
One by-product of their switch to African style is that Liberians have become avid window-shoppers, stopping to photograph the latest styles displayed outside new boutiques. And this is far from a female-only phenomenon.
Strutting down a Monrovia street on the lookout for a new outfit is Roosevelt Krumah, who is kitted out in black skinny jeans, leather boots and a shirt made of bands of clashing prints, a matching cotton cap on his head. With him is his friend Joe, sporting turquoise trousers, a black dress shirt and a waistcoat with matching turquoise lapels. “I feel like a real African when I dress in African style,” says Krumah, for whom functionality is also a big draw.

A SECURE LIVELIHOOD
The impact is not only a feast for the eyes but a secure source of income in an economy heavily reliant on small-scale entrepreneurship. Designer Korlu Jallah, a haute couture specialist who founded the Liberian brand Edith House of Fashion, has now diversified into pret-a-porter to deal with demand.
Five years ago she was just another jobless college graduate. “My mother is a seamstress. I used to like watching her sewing when I was small,” she says, in her multi-purpose studio-store. “When I had difficulty in finding a job, she advised me to continue in tailoring. It was difficult at the beginning because our women liked the European fashions.”
The 32-year-old now employs 22 people, including 15 tailors, six saleswomen and an administrator, but still finds it hard to keep pace with her customers’ demands. “Our African style has taken the lead,” she says, gesturing to the queue of ladies waiting for a fitting.