best scarves

The wax-resist dyeing technique of batik is found in many cultures, but nowhere is it as renowned as in Java. In this batik scarf from Melati’s Collection, a Javanese garden paradise of turquoise, black, and white flowers decorate a golden background of pure silk.

Melati presents this shawl inside a quality, custom-made gift box.

Traditional Javanese motifs flow in quiet harmony across a silk batik scarf. Yuni Kristina combines kotak (squares) with the elaborate parang kotak bajel (dagger or blade), once reserved for the royal courts of Surakarta and Jogyakarta.

Majestic and regal, this silk scarf from Bali wraps the wearer with elegance, marked by hues of chartreuse and indigo. Yuni Kristina designs the scarf in the batik style, using wood blocks to hand-stamp a wax resist before applying the colorful dyes. Delicate fringe work completes this accessory.

A world of traditional parang motifs decorates the body of this silk wrap scarf, featuring a design by Yuni Kristina. Historically reserved for Javanese royalty, the beauty of parang is available in tones of indigo and chartreuse. Yuni decorates the scarf with the batik method, using hand-carved wood blocks to stamp the motifs in a wax resist before applying the colorful dyes. Long, delicate fringes complete the scarf at each end.

Originated by the Akan peoples of Ghana, colorful kente cloth is the best-known of all African textiles. Kente cloth is woven in strips, which is how it came by its name (kente means "basket" in the Ashanti dialect). Ghana's Rachel Armah creates this colorful cotton blend scarf in cheerful shades of purple, green and yellow. She names her design nyiraba, which means "blessed child" in the Akan dialect.

In kente cloth, each color has a symbolic meaning: black symbolizes maturation and intensified spiritual energy; blue signifies peacefulness, harmony and love; green symbolizes vegetation, planting, harvesting, growth, and spiritual renewal; gold represents royalty, wealth, high status, glory, and spiritual purity; grey is for healing and cleansing rituals; maroon signifies the color of mother earth, associated with healing; pink and purple are associated with the female essence and female aspects of life; red symbolizes political and spiritual moods, bloodshed, sacrificial rites and death; silver is associated with the moon and represents serenity, purity, and joy; white is for purification, sanctification rites and festive occasions; and yellow represents preciousness, royalty, wealth, fertility, and beauty.