copied by the Dutch..
manufactured in Manchester, England..
sold in Africa.
Historically, the increased demand for this fabric in Africa resulted in more slave labor needed in the Americas to produce it.
"Because genuine Indonesian batik was very labor-intensive and, therefore, expensive to produce, European mills began to take on the work, automating the dyeing process to make the fabric more affordable.
By the end of the 19th century, Vlisco’s “wax hollandais” cloth was sold to Africans along the oceanic trading route back to Indonesia. As the years passed, patterns and color palettes were adapted to West and Central African tastes until, by the 1930s, Vlisco’s fabrics designed for the elite from that part of Africa had come to dominate the region’s import market.
This early chapter in Vlisco’s history has prompted more than a few intellectuals and cultural commentators to question or criticize the company for building a business on products that they say are not entirely authentically African. Vocal among them is the Nigerian scholar Tunde M. Akinwumi, who published a paper in the Journal of Pan African Studies in 2008 titled “The ‘African Print’ Hoax.”
Many others, however, view Vlisco’s Afro-European heritage with far less suspicion. The celebrated British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare, whose work explores colonialism and post-colonialist race and class, has referred to Vlisco as “cross-bred,” and he uses its fabrics to create many of the European-style Victorian-era dresses that make up his work.
And many of Africa’s fashion designers have long chosen Vlisco for their collections."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/15/fashion/15iht-ffabric15.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
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