Natural fibers and traditional weaving, a new direction for sustainable fashion

BVR&MT - On April 24, in response to Fashion Revolution Week, Empower Women Asia (EWA) collaborated with Fashion Revolution Vietnam to organize a workshop "Sustainable fashion with designers, artisans and suppliers”. This is also an event to spread the value of national identity that brocade weaving products bring, as well as bring knowledge about the sustainable fashion industry to everyone.

With the presence of three speakers from three roles: traditional textile suppliers, traditional textile artisans and fashion designers, the workshop had unique perspectives on fashion and its potentials. sustainability of traditional weaving.

Ms. Vu Thi Lieu - a unique supplier of pineapple fiber, was the first speaker, and shared with Forest and Environment reporters at the workshop about the supply of natural materials to protect the environment towards environmental protection. sustainable fashion.

“Pineapple is a famous agricultural fruit in Vietnam, grown on an area of more than 40,000 hectares. And to harvest 1 pineapple, farmers throw away 2 - 3kg of pineapple leaves. During the processing process, farmers will remove, mill, dry and burn millions of tons of pandan leaves every year. This is both wasteful and harmful to the environment" - Ms. Lieu shared more about her reason for researching pineapple fiber and other natural fibers.

*The audience can touch and feel the raw fabric material made from shredded pandan leaf fibers.*

Ms. Lieu added that it is necessary to go through many stages to be able to produce finished products, which are pieces of rough fabric, or even pieces of leather, with the same applicability as today's industrial fabrics and animal skins, completely does not harm the environment.

*Ms. Lieu shares about her pineapple fiber product.*

*Pineapple fibers are extracted from completely natural pineapple leaves.*

Immediately after the sharing from Ms. Lieu, artisan Sam Thi Tinh, a Thai ethnic group in Quy Chau, Nghe An also had profound and realistic insights into the situation of the textile industry and the lives of women. Ethnic minority woman at the loom.

For Ms. Tinh, brocade items are not only common items but also culture and pride of the Thai people in particular and the Vietnamese people in general. Her exquisite and sustainable traditional textile products have reached many major markets such as the US, Australia, Japan,...

In addition to her views on the brocade weaving industry, she also shared the Thai people's way of dyeing fabric without chemicals. The audience was able to personally experience the process of dyeing fabric under the guidance of Ms. Tinh. After dyeing silk scarves, depending on how the fabric is tied, many different beautiful patterns will be created.

*Raw materials to produce different colors.*

*At the workshop, the two colors used to dye fabric are pink (from the Phang tree, in the Thai ethnic language) and yellow (from the Hoang Dang tree).*

*Product after completing the dyeing process.*

At the end of the workshop, Designer Ngoc Anh - Founder of the La Pham brand brought a performance of sustainable costumes, with motifs inspired by brocade weaving products of highland people. This is also the mini collection - "Invitation of Nature" that La Pham brand, the only Vietnamese brand to participate in the recent UN - DRESS sustainable Fashion show event in Switzerland.

“Starting as an Environmental Chemistry Scientist, I have always worried about the impact of fashion on the environment and quality of life. Finally, after 3 years, I found inspiration from ethnic materials. And then, I pursue designs based on traditional and handmade materials, completely natural, but the values of modernity and advanced technology are still maintained.” – Designer Ngoc Anh said.

The workshop "Sustainable Fashion with Designers, Artisans and Suppliers" is an event that marks an important milestone for environmental and fashion awareness. This is also the right time for Vietnam to make a strong transition from the fast fashion trend to sustainable fashion. Besides, the products still retain all of their characteristics: environmentally friendly, preserving culture and designs suitable for the times.

The workshop was organized by EWA (Empower Woman Asia), a project of KIBV (Keep It Beautiful Vietnam) with the aim of supporting ethnic minority women in Vietnamese textile villages. At the same time, the project wants to spread the sustainable values and national identity values that brocade weaving products bring, as well as bring knowledge about the sustainable fashion industry to everyone.

Through this event, EWA will continue to maintain its development orientation to become a platform to promote sustainable fabrics and textile products with good quality and environmental and social values.