Toto calendar, Blue Printers Ltd

Fabric calendar, 1986, made in England, Blue Printers Limited.

Calendars were printed to promote the company’s designs. They were sent free as a promotional tool to hang on the wall of traders’ and merchants’ premises. This calendar features 15 designs, all in a dark blue and white colourway. This style of fabric has many names but is commonly known as shweshwe. The sections of sample patterns around the calendar state their design reference number so that customers can order the corresponding fabric.

The origins of this style of textile can be traced back to the European resist-dye techniques of the mid-1800s. Some of the first to take up the fabric in Africa were the IsiXhosa in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa, and it has become part of Southern Africa’s cultural heritage. Traditionally worn by newly married Xhosa women, makoti, shweshwe has a place not only in traditional outfits such as dresses, skirts, aprons and wraparound clothing, but has also been continuously reimagined throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. It is still being incorporated into modern fashions.