A spotlight on Nigeria's textile wizard

DW (English)

Meet Ifebuche Madu, the mastermind behind the Nigerian team's 2022 Winter Olympics uniforms. Ifebuche crafted the uniforms with traditional, hand-dyed Adire fabrics that celebrate her country's rich heritage.

Transcript

00:00She is the woman who made Nigeria shine at the Olympic Games despite the team not winning

00:08a single medal.

00:10So what made Nigeria the star of many front pages?

00:15The print for 2022 Winter Olympic collection.

00:23The hand-dyed green Adire textiles made a fashion statement at the Winter Olympics in

00:272022 for the Nigerian team.

00:31Let's meet Ife Butye Madu, the young textile designer and maker that made this cloth.

00:36How we got involved in creating the Olympic, Nigeria Olympic team uniform.

00:44So prior to the project, we already have an existing relationship with the brand, MN and

00:50MN Studio in the US.

00:53So we worked, we produced for them before.

00:55So on a fateful day, he reached out that he would want us to work on a project together.

01:01We are into handcrafted prints.

01:05We are keen on authenticity and originality of the print and our idea and theirs resonate.

01:12So it was like two people with same interests coming together to make magic.

01:21Adire, which is a Yoruba word for tie and dye, is the indigo dyed cloth that uses a

01:26variety of resist dyeing techniques and methods.

01:30The tradition of indigo dyeing goes back centuries in West Africa.

01:34I learned how to do Adire textile in Oshogbo.

01:38That was some years back.

01:40So I trained with Nike Art Gallery in Oshogbo.

01:44I wanted to learn the craft myself.

01:47It was not just a love to appreciate it, but I loved to be part of the people putting my

01:54hands on the table, working on, you know, making incredible designs.

02:03In modern times, simplified stencils, designs and some better quality oniko and alabere

02:08are still being produced.

02:10Let's hear more from Ifebuce on how she does this and why it's so important to keep these

02:14traditions alive.

02:16Preserving Adire textile has a lot of importance.

02:20There is a social impact, economic impact and cultural impact.

02:27Production and sale of Adire improve the local economy.

02:33The process of making Adire textiles involves several steps, and each stage is handled by

02:38skilled artisans dedicated to their specific tasks.

02:42What has all to be done before the fabric is sewn into any design by the tailors?

02:46The first step of creating any design at all needs Adire or other hand-woven textiles.

02:54It starts with theory, conversation, understanding what the customer wants.

02:58Here is one of the processes of making the print, and this involves writing or drawing

03:07with a carved form to, you know, get the details of the patterns and the design a customer

03:16is looking at achieving.

03:18This is the second process which involves design we already carved on a form.

03:26So you could see that here is a stamp.

03:32In the late 20th century, the introduction of synthetic dyes expanded the definition

03:36of Adire.

03:37Since then, this includes textiles produced using the wax-resistant batik process.

03:43What does Ifebuche think of these bright and colorful patterned fabrics?

03:47The usage of synthetic dye helps in giving us varieties of color.

03:54So with synthetic dye, you're able to get like as much color as possible, you know,

04:00to explore or, you know, to enhance your craft as far as color is concerned.

04:07Or like when it was just indigo color that, you know, you have access to blue, you can

04:15have access to different shades of blue, but at the end of the day, it's still blue.

04:18So synthetic dye makes the art more exciting.

04:23So here is the second room, and that's the dyeing room.

04:26The first step here is after waxing, applying wax on the fabric, we soak the fabric inside

04:34the clean water so that the fabric will receive the dye properly.

04:39The essence of soaking the fabric into the clean water is to allow the fabric to receive

04:45the dye properly.

04:47So after then is to leave the dye.

04:49This is an indigo bath.

04:51We are dipping the fabric into indigo dye.

04:59This process takes about three to four or five minutes, depending on the volume of the fabric.

05:08If she doesn't use synthetic colors and makes her ad-re creations using traditional techniques,

05:12how does Ifebuche still manage to set trends, like at the 2022 Olympics?

05:17Here is almost the last stage of the designing process.

05:22So here is the de-waxing.

05:25So the de-waxing involves removing the wax from the fabric.

05:29Remember, the first stage is to wax the fabric.

05:32Then here is to remove the wax using hot water.

05:36And after this process, you're able to see your design and your color the way you want

05:43them to be.

05:44From here, you move to drying the fabric, ironing, and packaging, and voila, you're done.

05:53Ifebuche works with artisans from various African countries to make the sustainably

05:57woven ad-re fabric even better known.

06:00Why does she think this is crucial to give them access to markets outside their local

06:04environment?

06:06For Africstabel, people first, before the textile.

06:11People were the major reason why I started Africstabel, you know, the idea of sustenance,

06:18sustaining them.

06:20And with that, the textile is preserved.

06:23So I say that for us to preserve the ad-re textile, we must preserve the people behind

06:33the textile.

06:34Since the last Winter Olympics, Ifebuche has shown the world that ad-re fabrics are beautiful.

06:40And with every new piece of fabric she creates, she continues to expand its socio-economic

06:44impact on local communities in Nigeria.

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