Accra: Behind the Seams - Fabric, Fashion & Your Own Outfit

Explore Accra’s fashion scene through Kente, wax prints and other printed fabrics, discover the stories behind them, and have your own garment made by a selected local tailor or seamstress.
Discover Ghanaian fashion beyond colorful fabrics and follow the journey from textile market to your own tailor-made garment.

Together with your local host, explore the fabric section of Makola Market and nearby side streets that are especially important to Accra’s textile and fashion scene – places you would be unlikely to discover on your own. Discover Kente and other woven textiles alongside wax prints, colorful printed fabrics and other materials used for clothing in Ghana. Learn about different qualities, patterns and uses – and get a feel for how people choose fabrics for everyday wear and special occasions.

But this experience goes beyond colors and patterns. Uncover the fascinating and sometimes complex histories behind different textiles. Explore how trade, colonialism and globalization have influenced fabrics and fashion in Ghana and across West Africa. Learn about the surprising history of wax prints and why not everything commonly perceived as “African fabric” has the origins you might expect.

Fashion also offers a window into Ghanaian society. Along the way, explore how clothing can express identity, belonging, occasion, aspiration and social status – and how fashion and styles continue to change. You will also touch on questions of sustainability, local production and the environmental impact of the global fashion industry.

Finally, it is time to turn your inspiration into something of your own. Along the way, choose a fabric you love for your garment. The fabric itself is not included in the tour price and is purchased separately by you. The experience then continues with a visit to a carefully selected local tailor or seamstress, where you will be professionally measured and choose one garment from the included design options: two skirt styles, two shorts styles, two women’s top styles or two men’s top styles. Your chosen piece will then be made especially for you. If you have a different or more elaborate design in mind, this may also be possible for an additional tailoring fee.

Depending on the group size, mobility and preferences, you will explore parts of the route on foot or travel between the market area and the tailor or seamstress by tuk-tuk or car.

Your garment will usually be ready the following day. Collect it at the agreed location or arrange delivery to your hotel for a small additional fee.

From Kente, wax prints and other printed fabrics to local tailoring and made-to-measure clothing, Behind the Seams is not simply a shopping tour. It is a journey through the history, society, sustainability, craftsmanship and creativity behind what Ghana wears – ending with a piece made especially for you.

Garantir la disponibilité du livre dans les plus brefs délais. Les réservations anticipées valent la peine d'être prises en considération, surtout si vous planifiez le voyage en haute saison, comme les jours fériés ou les fins de semaine.

Cette excursion peut être annulée sans frais jusqu'à : heures d'annulation avant le début du voyage. Si vous l'annulez après les heures d'annulation ou si vous ne vous présentez pas à l'excursion, le prix total de l'activité vous sera toujours facturé. Tout retard à la prise en charge ou au départ sera considéré comme un retard.