Mouchwè
A one-off capsule collection of tie hats made with mouchwè fabric.
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Mouchwè Tie Cap
Regular price £55.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price per -
Mouchwè Tie Cap
Regular price £55.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price per -
Mouchwè Tie Cap
Regular price £55.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price per -
Sold outMouchwè Tie Cap
Regular price £55.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price per -
Sold outMouchwè Tie Cap
Regular price £55.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price per -
Mouchwè Tie Cap
Regular price £55.00 GBPRegular priceUnit price per
A one-off capsule collection made from a colourful check that we call Mouchwé in Saint Lucia. More commonly known as madras, this fabric has a deep history with the West Indies and the French Caribbean.
Originating in India from a city called Madras, the fabric was imported by the French and British East India companies to various parts of the Caribbean. Laws restricted how free and enslaved women dressed and prohibited them from wearing what was considered ‘fine materials’ as well as wearing their hair down. In response, these women subverted these dress regulations by using this fabric to tie their hair in elaborate ways and creating their own distinctive styles.
The popularity of madras amongst Caribbeans created a demand for new madras styles that reflected their tastes at the time and eventually became the traditional wear for many Caribbean islands including Saint Lucia.
I first experimented with these designs in 2023 but they were heavily influenced by elaborate traditional wear. This year, the designs evolved into more relaxed silhouettes that not only reflected my personal style but also the laid-back ness of Saint Lucian locals when I visited back in 2012.
When the opportunity to visit Saint Lucia arose this year, I revisited my designs and started sampling a capsule collection. In June, I went to Paris and bought various mouchwè fabrics that I sourced the year before and started designing.
As a way to reintroduce the print into everyday style, I leaned towards silhouettes that allowed the fabric to be thrown on more casually as opposed to being reserved for more formal events. The silhouettes in the collection include beach shorts and skorts and a tie-style cap that fuses traditional and modern elements.
A modern reimagination of the headwrap worn as a response to the tignon law that banned black women from wearing their hair down. Madras was the cheapest fabric at the time so women would use these colourful squares to tie their hair up in elaborate ways that later inspired European fashion in the 1800s.