American Journal of Art and Design

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Metal Fasteners for the Local Fashion Accessories Industry in Ghana

Received: Jul. 17, 2020    Accepted: Aug. 20, 2020    Published: Aug. 27, 2020
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Abstract

The fashion industry in Ghana has evolved over time and has created a large market for both the producers and retailers. Ghanaian fashion designers like Mawuli Okudzeto, Genesis Clothing and Kofi Ansah to mention but a few have been able to capture pure African values in their designs. Companies like Akosombo Textiles and TexStyles Ghana Ltd, Vlisco and Woodin are daily producing materials that are becoming so useful to local fashion designers and they in turn are producing the styles that we also enjoy wearing. Ghanaian designers are also making fashion accessories like bags, shoes, jewellery; belts, among others, to match the clothes that they produce. Although Ghanaian fashion designers use metal fasteners in designing clothes and accessories, unfortunately, most of these fasteners are imported products that do not have any philosophical relation with the Ghanaian people. Even worse, the jewellery industry does not consider this venture as a niche market and also as a platform to support local fashion designers to create a holistic Ghanaian concept in what we wear. This paper explored the possibility of producing metal fasteners for Ghanaian fashion accessories industry using the Practice-based research method. The inspiration for the project was the popular Ghanaian Akinkra symbols. The result of the study revealed that metal fasteners could be produced in the studio with local concepts giving a totality of Ghanaian fashion concepts. The study recommends that techniques for the production could also be improved by adopting new production practices such as laser cutting and investment casting methods.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajad.20200503.12
Published in American Journal of Art and Design ( Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2020 )
Page(s) 63-70
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Fasteners, Metal Fasteners, Fashion Accessories, Lost Wax Casting, Piercing

References
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[2] Turini, S. (2018, July 2). Man Repeller; I Asked a Bunch of Industry People: What’s the Point of Fashion? [Discussion list message] Retrieved from https://www.manrepeller.com/2018/02/meaning-of-fashion.html
[3] Steele, V. (2020). Beauty and fashion, Retrieved from https://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/alphabetical-index-fashion-clothing-history/definitionn-fashion
[4] Watkins, Susan. Clothing: The Portable Environment. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1995.
[5] Friedel: (1996). Zipper: An Exploration in Novelty. Norton and Company: New York.
[6] Epstein, Diana, and Safro, M. (1991). Buttons. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
[7] Decorative Zips and Fashion Trends. (2020, January 11). What actually is clothing fastener? Retrieved from https://www.sbs-zipper.com/blog/what-actually-is-a-clothing-fastener/
[8] National Friday Wear Programme launched (2004, November 12) Retrieved from https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/National-Friday-Wear-Programme-launched-69720
[9] Willis, B. (1998, January 1). The Adinkra dictionary: A visual primer on the language of Adinkra. Pyramid Complex.
[10] Boddy-Evans, A. (2020, February 12). The Origin and Meaning of Adinkra Symbols. Retrieved from https://thoughtco.com/origin-and-meaning-of-adinkra-symbols-4058700.
[11] Bulgin. M, (2001). Adinkra Symbols: To say good bye to a dead relative or friend.
[12] Bello, E. (2017, June 22). Adinkra Symbols of West Africa-History and Meaning. Retrieved from https://zoede.com/adinkra-symbols-west-africa-history-meaning/
[13] Skains, L. (2020, August 12). Creative Practice as Research: Discourse on Methodology. [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://scalar.usc.edu/works/creative-practice-research/what-is-pbr
[14] Adom, D., Opoku, M., Newton, J. and Yeboah, A. (2018, May 3) Adinkra Cultural Symbols for Environmental Sustainability Education in Ghana, Journal of World Environment, Volume 8, 10.5923/j.env.20180802.02
[15] Alabi, J. (2020, May 12), Adinkra symbols: a comprehensive list with meanings in Ghana, Retrieved from https://yen.com.gh/109014-adinkra-symbols-a-comprehensive-list-meanings-ghana.html
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Cyril Etornam Adala, Isaac Kwabena Agyei, Samuel Baah Kissi. (2020). Metal Fasteners for the Local Fashion Accessories Industry in Ghana. American Journal of Art and Design, 5(3), 63-70. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20200503.12

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    ACS Style

    Cyril Etornam Adala; Isaac Kwabena Agyei; Samuel Baah Kissi. Metal Fasteners for the Local Fashion Accessories Industry in Ghana. Am. J. Art Des. 2020, 5(3), 63-70. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20200503.12

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    AMA Style

    Cyril Etornam Adala, Isaac Kwabena Agyei, Samuel Baah Kissi. Metal Fasteners for the Local Fashion Accessories Industry in Ghana. Am J Art Des. 2020;5(3):63-70. doi: 10.11648/j.ajad.20200503.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajad.20200503.12,
      author = {Cyril Etornam Adala and Isaac Kwabena Agyei and Samuel Baah Kissi},
      title = {Metal Fasteners for the Local Fashion Accessories Industry in Ghana},
      journal = {American Journal of Art and Design},
      volume = {5},
      number = {3},
      pages = {63-70},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajad.20200503.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajad.20200503.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajad.20200503.12},
      abstract = {The fashion industry in Ghana has evolved over time and has created a large market for both the producers and retailers. Ghanaian fashion designers like Mawuli Okudzeto, Genesis Clothing and Kofi Ansah to mention but a few have been able to capture pure African values in their designs. Companies like Akosombo Textiles and TexStyles Ghana Ltd, Vlisco and Woodin are daily producing materials that are becoming so useful to local fashion designers and they in turn are producing the styles that we also enjoy wearing. Ghanaian designers are also making fashion accessories like bags, shoes, jewellery; belts, among others, to match the clothes that they produce. Although Ghanaian fashion designers use metal fasteners in designing clothes and accessories, unfortunately, most of these fasteners are imported products that do not have any philosophical relation with the Ghanaian people. Even worse, the jewellery industry does not consider this venture as a niche market and also as a platform to support local fashion designers to create a holistic Ghanaian concept in what we wear. This paper explored the possibility of producing metal fasteners for Ghanaian fashion accessories industry using the Practice-based research method. The inspiration for the project was the popular Ghanaian Akinkra symbols. The result of the study revealed that metal fasteners could be produced in the studio with local concepts giving a totality of Ghanaian fashion concepts. The study recommends that techniques for the production could also be improved by adopting new production practices such as laser cutting and investment casting methods.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AB  - The fashion industry in Ghana has evolved over time and has created a large market for both the producers and retailers. Ghanaian fashion designers like Mawuli Okudzeto, Genesis Clothing and Kofi Ansah to mention but a few have been able to capture pure African values in their designs. Companies like Akosombo Textiles and TexStyles Ghana Ltd, Vlisco and Woodin are daily producing materials that are becoming so useful to local fashion designers and they in turn are producing the styles that we also enjoy wearing. Ghanaian designers are also making fashion accessories like bags, shoes, jewellery; belts, among others, to match the clothes that they produce. Although Ghanaian fashion designers use metal fasteners in designing clothes and accessories, unfortunately, most of these fasteners are imported products that do not have any philosophical relation with the Ghanaian people. Even worse, the jewellery industry does not consider this venture as a niche market and also as a platform to support local fashion designers to create a holistic Ghanaian concept in what we wear. This paper explored the possibility of producing metal fasteners for Ghanaian fashion accessories industry using the Practice-based research method. The inspiration for the project was the popular Ghanaian Akinkra symbols. The result of the study revealed that metal fasteners could be produced in the studio with local concepts giving a totality of Ghanaian fashion concepts. The study recommends that techniques for the production could also be improved by adopting new production practices such as laser cutting and investment casting methods.
    VL  - 5
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Author Information
  • Department of Industrial Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Industrial Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

  • Department of Industrial Art, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

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