![]() ![]() Motlatsi: designed and produced to pay tribute to the birth of Prince Lerotholi. The Sotho people had a great love and respect for Queen Victoria and the Victoria England blanket has become a sought after status symbol. He wore the blanket with elegance, in a manner that represented the Poncho, over his shoulders and there the blanket wearing tradition began. She gave King Lerotholi a gift, which happened to be a blanket. Victorian/ Malakabane: According to a local legend, in 1897 Queen Victoria visited the Lesotho (this did not actually occur). At present, one will often observe chiefs wearing commercially manufactured blankets bearing the print of a leopard, rather than actual leopard skins. Lehlosi: A Chiefly blanket made of patterns from the skin of wild cat or leopards. Seana Marena: Means chief's blanket or to swear by the king: This particular blanket is exclusively worn by the king and his chiefs, it has the highest status of all Basotho blankets. Husbands, on the other hand, traditionally gift their wife a Serope blanket when their first child is born. It used to be the case that a Mosotho bride would wear a Motlotlehi blanket on their wedding day, but the Lingoetsi blanket has since replaced its obsolete counterpart. After the initiation ceremony, the young men in Lesotho will don a different blanket known as the Lekhokolo, which confirms that they have reached adulthood. The Moholobela is a fertility blanket worn by young Sotho men in preparation of their transition to manhood. These new blankets were not only sturdier but they could also be fashioned in a way that more resembled the Kaross and they therefore quickly replaced the poor quality imported cloth that the people of Lesotho were previously wearing.Īcross the kingdom, a variety of these blankets are worn by the people of Lesotho to represent the different rites of passage in society. ![]() The King secured the production of "special blankets" in 1876 after meeting with Scottish textile manufacturer Donald Fraser. ![]() By 1860 securing sufficient skins for Karosses was increasingly difficult and by 1872 a large majority of sheepskin covers had been replaced by poor quality cotton or wool. The way that Basotho men wear these traditional blankets is based on the traditional Kaross, an animal skin cloak although their transformation to "factory-woven textile" is attributed to King Moshoeshoe I. Originally gifted to the then ruler King Moshoeshoe I by a British man known only as "Mr Howell" in the late 19th century, these blankets quickly gained popularity in the Lesotho region. ![]()
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