Traditional meets Contemporary — The ‘grass to grace’ story of Adire

Adire is an ancient textile craft from Nigeria with deep cultural and historical importance that has been passed down through the years. This fabric art form uses complex tie-dye methods to create colourful garments that are dyed in indigo and have come to represent Nigerian ancestry.

Adire has attracted new attention lately, both domestically and internationally. Adire textiles are being used by popular designers and artists to create modern clothing, home décor, and artwork. Adire’s distinctive and adaptable art form has gained prominence and this can be linked to the combination of traditional techniques and modern aesthetics.

Recently, there has been a resurgence in the use of adire fabrics. It has been widely attributed to the influx of the Chinese adire, which have stirred more campaigns and advocacy for Nigeria’s local adire and the fact that local adire makers have been able to come up with new beautiful and colourful designs.

Before now, adire was popularly done with just plain cotton materials with not so many designs to choose from, but these days, adire makers design on brocade, crepe, polish, silk and all sorts of materials.

Although Adire’s origins are with the Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria, especially in the cities of Abeokuta, Ibadan, Kano and Osogbo, it has gained popularity among other tribes in the country and even getting attention abroad.

Fashion designers have jumped on the adire trend and are creating new styles everyday. They are using the adire material to make beautiful contemporary styles that make everyone want to own a piece.