Ethiopia’s weavers struggle to keep garment tradition alive

Behind the looms of a workshop in the heart of Addis Ababa, dozens of weavers deftly repeat the same motions to craft traditional dresses — a centuries-old skill now threatened by Ethiopia’s economic hardships.

For generations, the “habesha kemis” — long white cotton dresses often adorned with colourful embroidery — have been handwoven. Their elaborate designs serve as attire for festivities and religious ceremonies.

It takes a week to weave the simplest dresses, and twice as long for those adorned with intricate embroidery — a meticulous, painstaking craft, several artisans say in a workshop where the steady clink of looms fills the air.

“The work is exhausting… we live day by day,” said Asefaw Yemu, 45, a weaver with three decades of experience who earns between 10,000 and 15,000 birr