In Wax Print, British-born documentary filmmaker Aiwan Obinyan sets off on a journey across the globe to Ghana, the UK, The Netherlands, and Nigeria to discover the origins of the 200-year-old African wax print textile fabric. She investigates how the fabric was created and how it came to symbolize a continent, its people, and its struggle for freedom. Wax Print explores how clothes speak the language of empowerment.
Aiwan traces back to her African heritage by interviewing her grandmother who ran a girls' school in Nigeria and taught them about fashion and wax fabric. We also see the tools that are used to create the designs and how the machines create the beautiful patterns seen on the fabric. In the past, they used to make the fabric print out of heavy blocks until the roller machines changed all that, sparing humans from heavy labor.
Wax Print is an educational documentary ideal for fashion institutions or universities with students majoring in the fashion industry. Media librarians for academic and public libraries should consider including this title to educate students and patrons about the culture, racial impact, and history of fashion in other countries.