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The fabric known as bazin riche is a 100% cotton fabric that has been transformed through a labor intensive process into a thin, shiny fabric that is used to make formal and fashionable clothing in Africa.

The Transformation

This fabric begins as a 100% cotton brocade cloth, which is a cloth that has a pattern or design woven into the fabric. This cloth is manufactured in Europe. It can be one color, with the pattern appearing as if it were a darker tone due to the weaving. Or it may have several colors which can create another pattern besides the brocade design. The cloth is imported to African countries where it undergoes a transformation to become the thin, shiny fabric that will be designed and sewn into a variety of styles worn by both women and men. Artisans in Africa countries may begin by bleaching and redying the fabric. It can be dyed with a single color, or the fabrics could also be dyed with tie dye patterns. The fabric is then starched, and then artisans perform the process of beating the fabric with wooden mallets against another piece of wood. This transformation is done by artisans in several West African countries, such as Senegal and Ivory Coast, but Mali is well known for its skilled artisans and the quantity and quality of the bazin riche they produce.

The highest quality bazin riche is made with 100% cotton fabrics from Europe, however there are alternative fabrics of a cotton/synthetic blend that come from China and are less expensive, which lowers the overall price of the final product.

The term Bazin Riche is used primarily in francophone West Africa. In anglophone Liberia it is known as bazan. Other terms employed by fabric vendors are Damask, Shadda, Guinea Brocade.