Chocolates and flowers may be conventional presents for St Valentine's Day (which is literally around the corner…), but Vlisco is suggesting a different type of present for all lovers – fabrics and poems.
The Dutch wax fabric company dating back to 1846 (when Dutch entrepreneur Pieter Fentener van Vlissingen established a textile company named P.F. van Vlissingen & Co in the city of Helmond, The Netherlands), commissioned indeed to Togolese poet Sélom Mensah poems inspired by fabrics.
Mensah created a short anthology inspired by Vlisco's romantic Love Letter and Hibiscus print, but also by its iconic trademark motif, Swallows.
While this is the first time the company turns to a poet, Vlisco has usually displayed a literary interest and often published on its site stories about the symbolisms behind specific fabrics, highlighting the narrative power of textiles hidden in patterns and motifs, such as the iconic swallows print (these birds are intended as symbols of good luck).
The company has been posting a love poem a day on Instagram stories to celebrate St. Valentine's Day, bu this link between literature and fabrics could be taken further. Anybody up for an anthology of poems or short stories inspired by clothes and accessories?
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