The traditional symbols on the fabrics worn by Francia Márquez

Francia Márquez has impacted the presidential campaign with color. Not only that of their skin, which has brought to the attention of the Afro-Colombian communities, but also because of their style of clothing that has stood out for wearing garments and fabrics with a long and significant history.

This aspect complements her proposed discourse to dignify, as defined by the leader, racialized peoples and combat the vestiges of colonization and slavery, in order to eradicate racism in Colombia. For that reason, according to an analysis by the magazine Cambio, their garments are part of the tradition of colonized populations.

According to designer Esteban Sinisterra Paz, creator of Esteban Africa, who advises Márquez on her wardrobe, the vice-presidential candidate mainly likes kente fabric, which is constructed from fabrics of various colors, each of which has a particular meaning.

According to the magazine cited, this type of fabric comes from the Asante empire in the 18th century, located on the Costa Dorada in West Africa. From the beginning, it has been a cloth associated with power and after the revolutions and decolonizations it has been adopted for the formal dress of the rulers.

In the garments of the vice-presidential candidate of the Historical Pact, they have also highlighted a type of colorful textile impressions and varied figures, which also originate in colonial populations in Southeast Asia, called Batik, according to Cambio.

A traditional type of fabric in Indonesia, which spread to Africa thanks to Dutch companies, which held the colonial power of that territory and also extended it to the rest of the world, even with the creation of the current main producer.

This manual method of dyeing Indonesian fabric has been since 2009 Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, its origin, although it has been adopted by multiple cultures. In tradition, they accompany people's lives, from birth with symbols for good luck and at the time of death they are wrapped in shrouds.

The artisans draw the figures, which can be used as cultural symbols, European florals, Chinese phoenixes or elements of Indian, Persian or Japanese cultures, with wax; it resists dyes and is then removed with hot water, to be able to print another color, until the desired figures are achieved.

This is the type of fabric that Francia Márquez wears, with the aim of communicating through garments, giving importance to traditions and with a meticulous selection of colors, according to the objective, as its designer Paz told the W Radio station. “Colors play a fundamental role. For example, when we want to use force and have it transmit that, red is the ideal”

For example, yellow, which has been one of the most recurrent, has been worn when it wants to inspire hope, being one of the colors that the candidate likes the most, while red has more to do with the strength that it wants to generate in a presentation or speech.

For this reason, Francia Márquez's way of dressing has stood out as part of a representative proposal, mainly of populations traditionally excluded or ignored such as black minorities, indigenous people and their cultures.

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