He showered her with gifts, starting with a 6-yard-long piece of bazin fabric, the hand-dyed, polished cotton which is the mainstay of Malian fashion.

NPR: Woman In Timbuktu Punished For Forbidden Love

Because American Giant's supply chain can be traced all the way back to the US cotton fields, with fabric being specially woven and dyed for it, getting a new shipment of raw materials wasn't as simple as making a phone call and waiting for an overnight delivery.

BBC: American Giant: The problems of being an overnight success

Batik is dyed by proud craftspeople who draw designs on fabric using dots and lines of hot wax, which resists vegetable and other dyes and therefore allows the artisan to colour selectively by soaking the cloth in one colour, removing the wax with boiling water and repeating if multiple colours are desired.

UNESCO: Culture