Fabricadabra's Blog

Dutch wax printed fabrics are primarily exported to Africa and used for apparel fabric by those who want the best wax prints or batiks in the market.  Oddly enough, many Amercians believe that these come from Africa and will refer to them as African wax print fabrics. A couple Dutch companies have been exporting their very contemporary and colorful fabrics into Africa since the 1950’s and these fabrics are highly valued, a sign of status and prosperity. There are many companies that now knock-off the Dutch companies and are able to sell them at much lower prices. Many of the knock-off are being produced in Africa and China. Interestingly enough, I found two companies in the New York city area that are peddling fakes of the Dutch of the wax prints. The print quility and basecloth quality are not as high, but the prices are a fraction of what the real Dutch wax prints are. So, there is a growing demand for the fakes.

I am having a love affair right now with the Dutchwax prints and have begun to incorpate pillows made from them into my line for Spring 2010. Some are on the site now and the best ones should be available in about two weeks.  I have seen these fabrics being used in haute couture recently and am confident that they will become a trend that trickles down to the masses and crosses from apparel to home furnishings. Feast your eyes on some of these!