• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.104-116
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• 2004

Kanga is a type of cotton clothes with splendid patterns that East African women throw on their bodies. It first appeared in the East African shores in the mid-nineteenth century. A new style of squared handkerchiefs brought to Africa by Portuguese merchants for the first time was referred as to leso of which early designs were in a basic form of white dots on dark background. Consumers called such material by kanga as they began mentioning its craftiness and comparing its elegant nature to a sociable red rooster and graceful feathers. From the early 1990s, Swahili characters have been embroidered in designs of kanga, mainly consisted of proverbs. Kenya's kanga products are widely known and well represented whereas Tanzania makes the best use of it for political and social events. Fascinating and practical kanga has established its position as an essential part of East African cultures that is being well received as a fashion style there in these days.