South Africa’s lost indigenous textiles

Africa’s story is told through cloth, yet South Africa’s indigenous textiles seem to have been silenced. While Egypt has linen, Nigeria has adire, and Congo has kuba, our country lacks a widely recognised pre-colonial textile tradition that still endures to present day. What did our ancestors wear? Why did they stop wearing it? And how did South Africa become a nation defined—perhaps even colonised—by cotton? In an attempt find South African clothing history, we’ll look at San dress culture, 15th century Southeast African cotton, and the endangerment of leopard skins and animal hides while looking at how our sartorial practices have been shaped by colonisation and capitalism. 00:00 Introduction 01:21 Part 1: The Naked Bushman 08:14 Part 2: Cotton Is King 14:45 Part 3: Leather Daddies 19:11 Part 4: Who Cares? Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okbaddiek Substack: https://www.khensani.substack.com Podcast: https://linktr.ee/clothes_minded Patreon: https://patreon.com/khensani?utm_medi... Buy Me A Beer: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/khensani Sources: Genus: Gossypium (Cotton) (no date) Biodiversity Explorer. Available at: https://www.biodiversityexplorer.info/plants/malvaceae/gossypium.htm (Accessed: 02 February 2025). (No date) Gossypium herbaceum subsp. africanum | plantzafrica. Available at: https://pza.sanbi.org/gossypium-herbaceum-subsp-africanum (Accessed: 01 February 2025). Cotton Facts (2023) Cotton SA. Available at: https://cottonsa.org.za/cotton-facts/ (Accesse