In a world of fleeting trends, Ikaki stands tall, reclaiming its place in our hearts. It was once hidden, tucked away to the bottom of our mothers’ trunk boxes, but now celebrated as it tells a tale of our past, woven by the hands of our ancestors – the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta.
Meet Boma Ogidigben, a modern-day hero breathing life into the once-faded Ikaki fabric., stitching stories of resilience and pride.
Ikaki, which closely translates to ‘tortoise’ in most dialects of the Ijaw or Ijoid language of Southern Nigeria was once a gift by the colonial masters, and the ceremonial wears of the royalties in the Southern region of the country during the early British rule, and has for decades, been recognized for its highly revered hand-woven fabric whose appearance is in semblance with the carapace of a tortoise which consists of the animal’s ossified ribs fused with the dermal boje to present a 3D effect and mosaic sequence.
The Ikaki fabric comes in various designs, with the most revered amongst them being the ‘Bila Ikaki’, mostly presented in monochrome, which has an elephant side-view imprint.
This fabric has been away for so long, but Boma Ogidigben is set to re-introduce and infuse this ethnic fashion statement globally.
From the Ikaki making its first runway debut by BoZillion at the Portharcourt Fashion Week 2023 to the NOOK International Fashion Week, and now, to the Ikaki Documentary: The Re-introduction, where Boma takes us on the journey of what inspired this revival, how and why the Ikaki fabric needs to make a return to the urban fashion scene.
The Ikaki Documentary has been released to the public as a learning material for fashion historians and enthusiasts around the world.
Watch full video below:
