Front and Back Covers. Volume 20, Number 4. August 2004

Abstract

Front and back cover caption, volume 20 issue 4Second‐hand clothing.A master tailor, his son (on the right) and two relatives, all making women's office wear and chitenge (printed cloth) outfits, Kamwala shopping centre, Lusaka, Zambia. This photo illustrates Karen Tranberg Hansen's article on second‐hand clothing in this issue (pp. 3‐9).Zambians from all walks of life like to dress well, and this results in a thriving clothing industry in all sectors, from imported new and second‐hand clothing and locally manufactured items to bespoke garments made by small‐scale tailors. Such tailors play an important role in fulfilling clothing needs and desires that are not met by new and second‐hand ready‐made clothing. Male and female tailors ply their trade in public markets, shop corridors, and from private homes in cities and small towns across the country. Many of them have engaged actively with the challenge posed by the import of second‐hand clothing, 'beating' it, in the words of one master tailor, through speciality production.Diversifying his production into popular styles of women's wear, the master tailor in this photo trained his son and two younger relatives. They are kept busy with the changes each season in fashions in women's two‐piece 'office wear' and chitenge wear (which has become very popular in recent years thanks to the ready availablity, in an open economy, of good‐quality and attractive printed cloth imported from South and Southeast Asia and from the Far East). 'Office wear' sees changes in the length and style of shirts and tops, and in the detailing of decorative trim, while fashions in chitenge wear show varying skirt styles and lengths, fitted or loose tops, elaborate trim, and highly constructed sleeves. Zambia's example demonstrates that the much maligned second‐hand clothing import trade can coexist comfortably with local initiatives in clothing production.