A lot of designers find inspiration in lots of things. For us most of our inspiration comes from the fabric we use. The bold prints, the colours, the way they come together to form something beautiful is just so amazing. In Accra there’s no other place to shop for fabric than at Makola, the capital’s biggest market! Shopping for fabric in Makola is just an exciting activity for so many creatives. Trust me it’s not just me. The market sells a very wide range of fabric in any quantity imaginable. From 1 yard to multiple rolls you can get practically anything you want.

We love African Ankara print fabric and whenever we enter the market we get overwhelmed because of the options to choose from. We have an article about the names of many popular prints. Check that out here. Over the years we have figured out how to keep things in check and the word here is planning! A good plan is necessary before going to Makola to shop for fabric. We usually have colours and pattern types we are looking for. There’s no doubt that sometimes we go off the main plan a little but having a plan makes things lightyears easier. For our most recent collection, Flothes our main colours were black and blue. We wanted fun fabric but with a strong black presence. This guided our shopping activities.

When it’s fabric shopping day we usually get to Makola market in the morning with a list. We have a number of sellers we usually buy from but we don’t limit our search to just them. It’s so much fun going around and seeing what is available. After at least an hour of walking we usually have all we need, certainly with some impulse buys here and there. The market is just so tempting. On our way back to our workshop we are always dreaming with ideas and designs. A shirt with the blue shell print fabric or a nice shift dress with the yellow Angelina Ankara print fabric will do.

If you want more information about Makola Market you can read about it here. Have you been to Makola market to buy African print fabric before? How do you keep calm?