The cloth
Bogolanfini begins as hand-woven cotton strip cloth, joined selvedge to selvedge before it ever meets the dye. It is dyed with a n'tjankara leaf mordant followed by a slow black-mud pass — the pattern is not printed on, it is drawn in mud and then the ground around it is lifted away. On this piece the mudcloth meets midnight navy luxury shirting with a soft lustre, bogolan mudcloth collar band and deep cuff facings, tonal navy embroidery at the collar seam, discreet gold-tone z at the cuff button.
