Kitenge: Dressed in Our Culture

Community members dressed in traditional Kitenge attire — Britania Hotel Manchester, International Women’s Day celebration, March 2020.

Walk into a M’Mbondo Manchester gathering and you will know immediately that something special is happening. Not because of the venue, or the decorations, but because of the fabric. The bold geometric patterns, the vivid colours, the way the cloth moves — Kitenge is unmistakable. And for the Babondo community, it is so much more than clothing.

Young performers in traditional attire at a M’Mbondo Manchester cultural event — representing Babondo heritage through dress and performance.

What Is Kitenge?

Kitenge — also known as Ankara or African wax print fabric — is a vibrantly patterned cloth that has become one of the most recognisable expressions of African identity and pride. Originating in West Africa and now beloved across the entire continent, Kitenge has been adopted and adapted by communities throughout Central and East Africa, including the Babondo people of the DRC.
The patterns of Kitenge are not merely decorative. Across different communities and traditions, specific patterns carry meaning — they communicate social status, occasion, identity, and belonging. The choice of fabric for a particular event is often deliberate and culturally significant.

Kitenge in the Babondo Community

For the Babondo diaspora in the UK, Kitenge has become a powerful statement of cultural pride and identity. It is worn at formal community events — particularly those attended by guests of honour, community leaders, or public authorities — as a declaration that our community is present, dignified, and proud of who we are.
At the International Women’s Day celebration at Britania Hotel Manchester in March 2020, community members arrived dressed in coordinated Kitenge — a sea of green and black geometric print that filled the room with colour and intention. Events like this are not just celebrations. They are affirmations. They say: we are here, we are whole, and our culture comes with us wherever we go.

Kitenge for the Next Generation

One of the most moving aspects of M’Mbondo Manchester’s cultural events is watching the youngest members of our community dressed in Kitenge — children and young people who have grown up in Greater Manchester, but who stand in community halls in Tameside and Manchester wearing the same patterns their grandparents wore in the DRC.
This is what cultural continuity looks like. Not the preservation of a museum piece, but the living, breathing, dancing reality of a community that refuses to let its identity be erased by distance or time.

“When I put on Kitenge, I am not just dressing. I am saying: I know where I come from, and I am proud of it.” — M’Mbondo Manchester community member