Abstract
Favored by various factors such as the influence of the millennials, social media, the entertainment industry, the traditional African fabrics have gained a lot in influence in recent years in the fashion industry. These traditional textiles, are distinguished by the handmade technique, and the use of natural dyeing. They are manufactured by small communities of artisans with centennial know-how. In the face of globalization and pressure from the transition to a larger scale production, several questions are raised: is it possible to maintain these sustainable techniques as they are? Can the circular economy values found in the producing communities be sustained? Through our exploratory research, we have proceeded to a systematic review of the literature, generated a theoretical framework through which we analyzed the actions of local and international actors in the fashion industry. From this, emerged recommendations such as promotion of fair trade practices, protection and empowerment of artisans communities, and other hypotheses that will need to be tested through further research.
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Gaulithy, MA., Ngomedje, C.N., Bieni, P., Coste-Manière, I. (2022). As African Textile and Fashion Grow and Go Global, How Can We Make Sure It Remain Sustainable?. In: Muthu, S.S. (eds) Sustainable Approaches in Textiles and Fashion. Sustainable Textiles: Production, Processing, Manufacturing & Chemistry. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0874-3_12
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