Thursday, March 24, 2011

Paying Attention: The Telegraph//Into Africa


[Suno. The new face of "Made in Africa"?]

Much has been made of Africamania by everyone from CNN to the New York Times and your friendly neighbourhood low-budget "Afrocentric" editorials (complete with tribal feathers and body paint, naturally). These days, the big conversation is less about an "African aesthetic" and more about the "Made in Africa" phenom (which we're major suckers for at Shop Liquorice. That and e-commerce.) and brands like Suno and Vivienne Westwood who are leaving pockets of economic footprints around Africa. The Telegraph takes you "Into Africa" and through the ins and outs of this potentially unprecedented new movement here. For Shop Liquorice's version of events, catch up on all our Made in Africa posts here.

XO

2 comments:

whatevs said...

I remember a similar article 6months ago where Suno and Edun were explaining why they were moving their production and aesthetic away from africa (quality and delivery issues). The Edun spokesperson even went as far as to say that the samples they made for a presentation had to be shown with the lights dimmed because the clothes were so poorly made, but as usual, when press is slow for these brands their humanitarian story gets trotted out.
All the Suno pieces I've seen in stores had made in india labels so maybe they should talk about that more.

xoliquoricexo said...

@ whatevs: Not sure what to make of Edun just yet, but I'm not sure I'd group them and Suno in the same category. Suno is very clear on its website that 70% of its pieces are made in Kenya/Africa. Also, re: the article you read -- I think you may have mixed things up a bit. Suno has moved their aesthetic away and Edun has moved production away.

Thanks for taking the time to comment :-) You're right -- brands shouldn't benefit from a message if they're veering dramatically away from it in actual fact.