About us

The Fabric Behind the Fashion — A Story 130 Years in the Making

The bold, vibrant prints at the heart of Ankara Holland have a history far richer than most people realise. To understand our fabrics, you have to travel back to the late 19th century, to the unlikely intersection of Indonesian craft, Dutch industry, and West African taste.

It begins with batik — the ancient Javanese art of applying wax to cloth to create intricate patterns. In the 1840s, Dutch textile manufacturers in Haarlem began producing machine-made imitations of these batiks, initially intended for the colonial markets of Southeast Asia. The mechanical process left characteristic crackle lines in the dye — imperfections compared to true hand-made batik, but ones that would soon take on a life of their own.

Around 1895, a Scottish merchant named Ebenezer Brown Fleming introduced these Dutch wax prints to the west coast of Africa. What happened next was unexpected: the fabrics were not received as imitations of anything. West Africans embraced them entirely on their own terms — for their vivid colours, their bold graphic quality, and their exceptional feel. Brown Fleming was shrewd enough to recognise this, and began adapting designs specifically to the tastes and cultural sensibilities of his African customers. He worked closely with the Haarlemsche Katoen Maatschappij, the Haarlem cotton company, to develop what became known as the Haarlem Collection — a body of designs that are now considered classics, many of which remain in print to this day.

Over the following decades, the Dutch wax industry expanded and contracted, shaped by two World Wars, shifting trade routes, and growing competition. One by one, the European manufacturers fell away — until only one remained: Vlisco, based in Helmond in the Netherlands. For over 170 years, Vlisco has continued to produce Dutch wax prints to the highest standard, the direct heir to the tradition that Brown Fleming helped shape on the streets of West Africa.

At Ankara Holland, we work exclusively with authentic Vlisco fabrics. Every piece we create carries this extraordinary lineage — from the batik workshops of Java, through the textile mills of Haarlem, to the markets and celebrations of West Africa, and now to the African diaspora in Europe. Our garments are handmade in Africa by skilled artisans who understand these fabrics intuitively, and designed for the occasions that matter: the owambe, the church service, the professional setting, the family gathering.

When you wear Ankara Holland, you are wearing more than fashion. You are wearing history.