Article: From remote Laos to haute couture – A journey of indigo dye

 

 

SAVANNAKHET, Laos: The fashion world loves indigo, but its popularity stretches back for centuries.

In Japan, this deep blue colour was worn by aristocrats and samurais. In India, its paste was dried into cakes and traded along the Silk Route, by which it entered Europe. Indigo was known in ancient Greece as indikon, which literally means ‘Indian’.

Today, indigo is the most popular colour for denim worn by millions of people worldwide. Every year, tens of thousands of tonnes of indigo dye is produced but most of it is synthetic. Its natural version is harder to find as the extraction of colour is done by hand in a complicated and time-consuming process.

In 2008, the Lao government launched a programme called One District One Product (ODOP) with help from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Focusing on Savannakhet and Saravanh provinces, ODOP is aimed at improving local livelihoods through the promotion of marketable products for export.

“It has helped reducing poverty, improving the lives of the people in the village and creating jobs,”

To read the full article go to the website of CHANNEL NEWSASIA

Textile Tidbits: Tribal Music Asia – Songs of Memory 2016 Update

Today’s Textile Tidbit is a link to the Tribal Music Asia website, and this year’s Songs of Memory update. Although the site focuses mostly on the songs and music of Southeast Asia, there are also a large number of pictures documenting traditional textiles in the areas of Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and China.

This summer’s update includes information about three exhibitions of traditional crafts from these places, and several photographs. I recommend taking a look if you’re not already familiar with the site.

To read more about this project, and to view the exhibition photos, read the 2016 Songs of Memory update, or visit the Tribal Music Asia website.