Asante weavers, famous for their bright silk kente cloths, also created cloths with sophisticated patterns in less costly dark blue and white cotton. These cloths are commissioned for ceremonial occasions and their patterns reflect the patron's personal taste and current fashion.

Checked patterns, which have been found in archaeological sites in Mali's caves, had become part of West African weaving traditions by the 11th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, cotton trade cloths from India and Europe reinforced and influenced the Asante stripe-and-check tradition.