 |
| Riga |
 |
| Raw silk- Laurence Douny Photos |
 |
| Hausa weavers. |
You may be forgiven if you think is cumbersome, but the history behind it is mind-blowing. Riga is a status cloth worn by elites, emirs, politicians in Northern Nigeria. It represents power, prestige, fame and wealth.
This gown is made of wild silk threads from filaments secreted by caterpillars (Lepidopetra)
The cocoons are collected from tsamiya-tsamiya tree in Bauchi, Nigeria and they produce excellent quality that are known to resist ageing and withstand fire. The raw silk goes through stages which includes washing severally, drying, spinning them into a yard, then woven and embroidered.
These cocoons are rare and difficult to obtain making Riga a rare buy.
What a process; the weavers have my respect ..
ReplyDelete