At the beginning of the twentieth century, when measures were taken to protect domestic Indonesian batik production, the market for imports there slumped. Africa gradually became the exclusive market for Dutch batik, and by the 1960s Vlisco, having merged with all its rivals, had become the exclusive supplier. Almost none of Vlisco's product is bought in Europe or North America. It's only in Africa, where Real Dutch Wax carries the authority of a brand like Rolls-Royce or Rolex, that consumers care about the difference between Vlisco quality and cheap Asian imitations. And Vlisco guards its qualitative edge jealously.
Industrial batik is a complex process.
Patterns are printed in wax on long strips of cloth, which are then immersed in vats of dye, usually indigo. The parts of the cloth not covered in wax absorb the dye, laying down a basic pattern. Then the fabric is pattern-printed with other colors, anywhere from one to three times. The trickiest part comes in trying to align patterns in different colors. For example, wax printing makes it very difficult to lay down the outline of a rose in indigo, and then fill it in with red.