COMMUNITY

Our community is made up of different groups of artisans, artists and creatives with whom we collaborate with to create our collections. In that way we work as a vehicle for community exchange exploring how traditional know-how, sustainability and culture can converge to create something new. 
 

 

Trailer for Finding Oasis, a visual essay documenting Sakon Nakhon and our Indigo Grandmas for our Oasis Collection S/S 2021.

 

Director: Chomwan Weeraworawit, Cinematography: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Music: Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band, Supervising Editor: Lee Chatametikool 

 

SAKHON NAKHON: INDIGO GRANDMAS

 The Indigo Grandmas of Sakon Nakhon are the grandmas and aunties we met during our journey to Sakon Nakhon. These ladies pass on the knowledge of indigo. Today, it is not only the grandmas who dye and weave indigo textiles but a whole new generation of dyers who believe in preserving this ancient craft.

 

In Sakon Nakhon, like much of Thailand’s Northeastern region of Isan, the men farm the rice paddies and the women weave, unless it is harvesting season when everyone is out in the fields. The last 2 decades has seen indigo dyeing, cotton and silk weaving evolve beyond a cottage industry, today, the grandmas also function as the guardians of this art, they pass on, they teach and what we have discovered is that it is an exchange, as they teach us, the conversation also looks to exploring new methods and new ways to embark upon the indigo journey.


Hand-woven Sakon Nakhon indigo dyed cotton is now protected as a Geographical Indication and there are many stories to tell. We've since been introduced to an indigo family that includes first generation dyer Mann who helped us to start our first vat, himself being the creator of a spectrums of 56 shades of indigo. 

 

 

BANGKOK: FATIMA SELF-HELP CENTER

We work with the ladies of the Fatima Self-help Center in Bangkok for our hand embroidery, macrame and crochet. The Center was founded by Sister Louise Horgan. over five decades ago, at a time when Bangkok as she describes it was very different from today. There was deep poverty and divisions in society with women the most impacted with no prospects for them whether they refugees or from underprivileged communities.

 

When she founded the centre she discovered quickly that the vulnerable and at-risk women were quick leaners of new skills and had a natural talent to work with their hands. The Center became a skills development center for women for embroidery, sewing, macrame and crocheting. 5 decades later, the Fatima Center has provided employment for over 2000 individuals and the atelier of the Fatima Center has highly skilled artisans whom are actively training a new generation of at-risk women and girls to embroider, sew and crochet, smock.