Overtime in this country we have so much given importance to foreign than our local products and most times we blame our leaders meanwhile we all have our faults.... How many of us know the history of Àdìre??? You can read through this and I hope it will so much help you out..... Cheers...

BRIEF HISTORY OF ADIRE

Àdìre textile, pronounced as Ah-DEE-reh is an age old indigo die textile indigenous to the Yoruba tribe of the Southwestern Nigeria. This textile is rich in beauty and culture as much as it has a rich history.(Bellafricana)In this post, you will learn about the history of the Àdìre textile and follow its’ progression through time. How did the textile come about, where was it first made, who wore it first, how did it travel to other tribes and countries, where it is on the global sphere?Let us begin with a little introduction for the benefit of those unfamiliar with this textile. Adire, is a Yoruba (a tribe in Southwestern Nigeria) word for tie and dye. It was first made by Yoruba women of old by using a variety of resist-dyeing techniques.

As the translation of the name suggests, the earliest pieces of Adire were probably simple tied designs on cotton cloth handspun and woven locally.I remember seeing a movie called “Odùduwà“, where the first wife of Odùduwà thought women how to tie and dye clothes. The ideology according to that movie’s story line was that before tie and dye textile came, clothes were only available in white colors.(Bellafricana)

While putting this write up together, we discovered that the origin of Adire might be traced to the archaeological discovery in some Tellem burial caves of Mali. Among the archeological findings, is a cap bearing the extant and popular Osubamba motif common in the Adire art of the Yoruba people.This coupled with the fact that the Yoruba of Old Oyo kingdom exported their art across and beyond West Africa through trade, military activities and political dominance.

I would say this supports the notion that Adire was first produced in Jojola’s compound of Kemta, Abeokuta by Chief Mrs. Miniya Jojolola Soetan, the second Iyalode (Head of Women) of Egba land. She then passed on the process to her children and onward to the future generations.The first Adire material was made with Teru (local white attire) and Elu (local Dye) made from elu leaf which is planted in the Saki area of Oyo state. There was an increase in tie-dye makers and artistic endeavours in the 20th century when more fabrics imported from European merchants became available for dyeing.You might wonder, why bother tying the cotton fabric before dyeing it? The simple answer to that is, the tying method prevents the absorption of dye to the particular area of the fabric that is tied. Looking at the origin of Àdìre, Àdìre is a common fabric among Yoruba in the south western part of Nigeria, adire is also known as tie and dye. It is thought of to have it origination from Abeokuta, in Ogun state. The textile can also be traced to Mali. It was also perceived to be a craft for women around Ibadan and Abeokuta, while Abeokuta is considered the Centre for adire making.This craft was almost going into extinction, only few years back came it revival by Nigerian fashion houses, Maki Oh and Duro Oluwo venturing into the trade of adire fashion.Do you know the wife of former United State of America’s President, Michelle Obama and famous actress Lupita Nyogo have worn adire inspired clothes in the past? (source: Wikipedia). But here we are in Nigeria, the homeland of Àdìre and we tend not to appreciate it again.