CELEBRATING
180 YEARS OF VLISCO
A Collaboration with Six
Contemporary African Artists
As we celebrate 180 years of Vlisco, we are marking this milestone with a collaboration that brings together six contemporary West African artists to reimagine some of our most iconic designs through new multidisciplinary works.
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For this anniversary project, we invited each artist to select the Vlisco print that resonated most deeply with them and use it as the starting point for artistic exploration. Rather than looking to our archive as a fixed legacy, these artists transform our iconic designs into sculptures, woven textiles, mixed-media installations, and works created from recycled materials, revealing new ways of interpreting the stories, symbolism, and visual language woven into our fabrics.
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Each artwork reflects a personal connection between the chosen print and the artist's own cultural history. Familiar Vlisco motifs evolve into objects, environments, and narratives that explore identity, memory, community, and everyday life, demonstrating how our designs continue to inspire new generations of creative expression.
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Since 1846, the meaning of Vlisco fabrics has been shaped not only by the designs themselves, but by the people who wear, cherish, and reinterpret them. This collaboration celebrates that ongoing dialogue, highlighting how our iconic prints continue to inspire contemporary artists while remaining deeply rooted in the cultures and communities that have made them their own.
“What first attracted me was their story. The story of the Mama Benz women. They represent the strength, the elegance, and the success of African women. I wanted to pay tribute to them through this sculpture while expressing my commitment to the environment.”
Mama Benz
This iconic design pays tribute to the legendary Mama Benz — also known as the Nana Benz — the pioneering women whose entrepreneurial spirit made them emblematic figures of the loincloth trade across West Africa.
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The design incorporates the year 1968, commemorating 29 May 1968, when the Nana Benz lent their Mercedes-Benz cars for the official procession of the Council of the Entente heads of state in Togo — a moment reflecting their extraordinary standing in society.
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Today, the Mama Benz fabric celebrates the enduring legacy of these women, honouring their resilience, entrepreneurial spirit, and lasting contribution to African culture and history.
“I was struck by this fabric featuring a broken tree. How is this broken tree going to stand again? We will have to recover the seeds from this tree in order to replant them. And it is those seeds that will give us other trees again. That was really my starting point.”
Fallen Tree
Popular in Ghana, Fallen Tree is inspired by a powerful proverb about the importance of unity and shared strength. The solitary tree, bending under the force of the wind, symbolises the idea that no one can carry life's burdens alone.
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Across the design, a scroll bears the Twi proverb “Duakur gye enum a
obu”—"One tree alone cannot stand the wind”— a reminder that resilience is
found in community, collaboration, and mutual support.
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Combining meaningful symbolism with decorative influences from Dutch Art Nouveau and early Indo-European batik traditions, Fallen Tree has remained one of Vlisco's enduring icons since its
introduction in 1933.
Prisca Tankwey
Village Molokai
A multidisciplinary artist based in Kinshasa whose practice explores religion, spirituality, and cultural identity in relation to colonial histories and contemporary social structures. Working across painting, photography, installation, and performance, she creates experimental works that examine memory, belonging, and collective experience.
“Stained-glass windows create this distance between what is easy to touch and what is higher and one cannot reach. I started from the opacity of the cloth in order to meet the transparent aspects that we find in my creation. And so, there is a dialogue between opacity and transparency.”
Village Molokai
This iconic design is named after the village of Molokai, whose name has become closely associated with the pattern's distinctive village motif. Celebrated for generations, this design has become one of Vlisco's most recognisable prints in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Beyond the fabric itself, Village Molokai is closely linked to cultural movements that celebrate identity, style, and self-expression, particularly through music and the vibrant tradition of La Sape, where fashion is embraced as a powerful form of personal expression.
"The Vlisco fabric I chose to work with represents something that, over generations, people in Benin have embraced so deeply that it has become part of their culture.”
Mari Capable
Inspired by the elegant form of an Ottoman chair, this iconic design is also often interpreted as a pair of lips. Affectionately known as ‘My Husband Is Able’, its name is intentionally open-ended, inviting different interpretations and personal stories.
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Across West and Central Africa, the design has become a symbol of appreciation, prosperity and pride. Traditionally, wearing an authentic Vlisco Wax Print was seen as a reflection of a husband's ability to gift something of exceptional quality, giving the design its enduring nickname.
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Like many Vlisco icons, its appeal varies across regions. In Togo, the design is especially admired with pronounced crackle effects, while in Côte d'Ivoire, a cleaner, more refined finish is preferred. The name ‘My Husband Is Able’ has also been adopted for handmade tie dyed fabrics in Cameroon, highlighting the design's lasting influence across textile traditions.
