Kente is a Ghanaian textile, officially recognised as a geographical indication of Ghana to safeguard its authenticity and origin. It is made of hand-woven strips of silk and cotton. Historically, the fabric was worn in a toga-like fashion among the Asante, Akan and Ewe people. According to Asante oral tradition, it originated from Bonwire in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. In modern-day Ghana, the wearing of kente cloth has become widespread to commemorate special occasions, and kente brands led by master weavers are in high demand.
Due to the popularity of kente cloth patterns, mass-produced prints with the kente patterns have become widespread throughout West Africa, and by extension the whole of Africa. Globally, the print is used in the design of academic stoles in graduation ceremonies, worn mostly by African Americans as well as the African Diaspora. thumb|Kente cloth, the traditional or national cloth of [[Ghana, is worn by the Akan]]
thumb|A man wearing kente cloth
Etymology
thumb|Ashanti king [[Prempeh II wearing kente]]
Kente comes from the word kɛntɛn, which means "basket" in the Asante dialect of the Akan language, referencing its basket-like pattern. In Ghana, the Akan ethnic group also refers to kente as nwentoma, meaning "woven cloth". Ashanti folklore includes a story where weavers invented kente by seeking to replicate the patterns of Anansi the spider.
History
Archaeological evidence for the oldest form of handloom weaving in Southern Ghana has been discovered at Begho and Bono Manso. Spindle whorls and dye holes discovered in these sites have been dated to the 14th–18th centuries. At Wenchi, spindle whorls have been dated to the 16th–17th centuries. It is plausible that early Asante weaving took influence from the Gyaman region, although likely in times previous to when oral traditions relate, these early cloths of blue and white cotton stripes bear striking resemblance to Bondoukou cloths and some others in West Africa. However the colorful cloths that came to be known as Kente were an Asante innovation made by dyeing cloths and unraveling imported cloths of silk from various different places and weaving them into many different patterns with different meanings.
In the 18th century, Asantehene Opoku Ware I was documented by Danish agents Nog and L.F. Rømer, to have encouraged expansion in craft work. The Asantehene set up a factory during his reign to innovate weaving in the Ashanti Empire. This was the early stages of Kente production. The Danish agents described the operations of the factory as: