Sutha Ke Fete: Spotlighting Basotho identity and design

Sanlam and Bloemfontein’s National Museum are presenting the first exhibition of the globally famous Basotho blankets in the Western Cape. The exhibition celebrates the stories of the blankets which have become an iconic brand identity of a nation, offering insights into Basotho heritage and design.

The title of the exhibition, Sutha ke Fete, is a Sesotho phrase meaning “make way for me or move, so I may pass”.

“Sutha Ke Fete is named after a blanket called Setsoto. It’s thick and made of the most expensive material. It was worn by people from affluent families. The wearer would feel confident and arrogant like “make way for me/get out of my way ... I’m important,” explains the curator of Lesotho’s Morija Museum & Archives and researcher for the exhibition, Mamokuena Makhema.

History, sociopolitical and cultural markers are woven into the blankets revealing Britain’s colonial ties with Lesotho, early capitalism and Basotho’s appropriation of the blanket.

The blankets were first manufactured in England’s Yorkshire mills about 160 years ago before making their way to the Cape of Good Hope, Port Elizabeth, and ending up in Leribe and the other mountainous districts of Basutoland (now Lesotho). Aranda, which manufactures many of the blankets today, was started by three Italian brothers from Prato whose textile factory was bombed by the Nazis towards the end of World War 2. Prato was freed by, among others, an SA troop led by Col Arthur Aiken, who persuaded the brothers to start again in SA. They arrived in 1951.

Patterns of the blankets were made by the Jacquard weaving machine — one of the earliest examples of computation — during the British Industrial Revolution. Missionaries first brought blankets to King Moshoeshoe’s nation in 1845. However, the popular story is that the first blanket was given to King Moshoeshoe as a gift from a trader called Howell in 1861. The king liked it and wore it around his shoulders as a kaross, inspiring his followers to do the same.

“Around the same time rinderpest disease made animals scarce. Most of our ancestors in the Southern region used skins to make clothes and blankets. With animals dying from rinderpest, they had less access to the skins. After Moshoeshoe was offered this blanket, it became more practical to start looking into it,” Makhema says.

Naming the blankets

The blanket names and motifs were influenced by historical events whose narratives made them popular. Initially some of the symbols were dominated by British heritage. Lefitori (Victoria Blanket) is an important blanket named to mark Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee, whose versions include imagery of the Prince of Wales’ feathers, for example.

“Basotho also called the blanket Lesolanka. They respected Queen Victoria as someone who stepped in when the settlers started encroaching on Basotho land and stealing cattle. That is how Lesotho became a British protectorate,” says Makhema.

Spitfire blankets were made to mark Basotho’s participation in the second world war. Twenty thousand Basotho collected enough money to pay for 25 spitfire fighters for the Royal Air Force, which flew under the Basutoland squadron in the British battle.    

The popular Seanamarena is a blanket reserved for royals, while Pitseng acknowledges a village of the same name in Lesotho’s Leribe district.

“Sefate blanket came about when Basotho looked for work in the SA mines,” Makhema says. “Rebels who did not like the treatment they got at the mines left as gangsters. They stole from those who still worked at the mines and could afford to buy themselves blankets. The gangsters would command others to get them a blanket from a tree (sefate), referring to the wearer of the blanket as a tree.”

She adds, “Many of the blankets that come to Lesotho have lines, what we call mela. The historical reason behind the lines is believed to be a factory fault. But Basotho resonate with the lines differently. When they put together the animal skins they wore, they made a line that came from the head all the way to the back, along the spine of the wearer. This was key to their design. So, Basotho linked the lines on the blanket to the line on their own animal skin blankets. When the marketers and researchers realised this, the lot that were sold to Lesotho would have those lines.”

Into the future

This is how the blankets gradually came to have Basotho signatures. New generations of designers have added to this with the Bodulo blanket. Inspired by Litema, a form of Basotho mural art, it signifies Basotho’s traditional lifestyle with images of Mokorotlo (the Basotho hat); poone (maize crop) and the horse.

Taking things further is designer Thabo Makhetha Kwinana, who has modified the blanket for contemporary design. Her rose coat inspired by an Alexander McQueen design, which she wore to a horse-racing event, sparked a lot of interest, which saw her delving deep into experimenting with the blanket to make capes, coats and jackets.

On the revelations that came with the blanket, she says “working with the blanket opened me up to questions about history and who owns the textiles. And finding the balance in fashion between communities and business. The Sanlam exhibition covers very well the different labels and wool content of the blankets. Lesotho has mohair from the sheep in the country. For me looking at sustainability right now that relationship between business and community becomes very important.”

Kwinana is preparing to debut a new collection for SA Fashion Week later in April and with it she steps into owning the blanket (instead of getting it) with her own textile design.

Sutha Ke Fete features heritage blankets from the National Museum in Bloemfontein, with 26 Basotho blankets from the Sanlam Art Collection, including Aranda’s Young Basotho Designer range. The exhibition runs at the Sanlam Art Gallery in Bellville until June 14 and comes to Sanlam’s Art Lounge in Sandton, Johannesburg, for Heritage Month in September.