Kente is the name given to a distinctively patterned, handwoven strip of cloth made by the Akan people of West Africa. The country of Ghana — once known as Gold Coast — is the primary producer of kente cloth today, and from various regions of the country come different styles of cloth, namely, Ashanti kente from the central Kumasi area, and Ewe kente from the eastern Volta region. Each strip of kente is woven entirely by hand on individual strip looms in a tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Everything you see on a kente - the stripes, letters, symbols, and patterns - is woven into the strip by hand as it is made. Individual strips can be sewn together along their edge to form larger pieces of cloth, known as Woman's or Men's Cloths, which are still worn today in Ghana as a garment wrapped around the body.
