Two friends go hunting in the forest and happen upon a spider spinning her web. Transfixed, they watch the arachnid deftly going about her business for two days and when they come home and try out the new technique the result is kente cloth. So goes the legend in Ghana, where the Akan people have been making it since the Empire of Bonoman in the 11th century. At one time reserved for kings, today kente—called nwentoma, or “woven cloth” by the Akan—is decidedly more common, yet still retains great cultural significance and is worn only on special days. Made by interweaving strips of silk or cotton, different weaves have their owns names—variously derived from proverbs, events and important historical personages—and every color is symbolic. In other words, when you wear kente cloth, you’re giving a whole new meaning to the term “fashion statement.”    
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