Lessons in ethical fashion – from Vietnam’s diverse ethnic traditions
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Lessons in upstanding manner – from Vietnam's diverse ethnic traditions
Thao Vu, fashion designer and founder of Kilomet109, is on a quest to create eco-friendly, manner-forward designs through centuries-former techniques.
Thao Vu is the brains backside the Vietnamese sustainable fashion label Kilomet109. (Photograph: Freestate Productions)
15 December 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 10 Jul 2022 03:40PM)
Thao Vu'southward way collections are made from nuts, woods, cotton fiber, hemp, fruit – 100 per cent natural, upstanding and eco-witting. For her, creation goes beyond design. "Luxury here means that it'due south non harmful to the environment. Most of the raw materials, nosotros grow ourselves. We do the weaving, dyeing and designing in-house, so information technology's a complete cycle," she explained.
Afterwards graduating from design school, she explored her homeland, meeting Vietnam's ethnic villagers, and discovering the century-old techniques of using indigo and magenta plants to produce rich dyes for fabrics.
About seven-and-a-half years ago, Thao Vu started working closely with women from Cao Bang, a remote village in the mountains n of Hanoi. This hamlet has since become her creative base where she grows and produces natural dyes and fabrics for Kilomet109, her eco-conscious article of clothing line.
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Thao Vu, 41, credits her diplomat male parent for stirring her involvement in fine art and travel. "Listening to my begetter's travel stories ignited my passion to larn more near other cultures too as my own. He believed in artisanal craftsmanship and encouraged me to cover new ways of understanding mode and appreciating beauty," she said.
Since she started her eco-mode characterization, she has collaborated with 45 artisans from v Due north Vietnamese ethnic minority groups, learning not just indigo- and ebony-dyeing, but also calendering and batik printing. Now she is moving on to silk-making families in Central and South Vietnam.
The experience has been fascinating for her. "You learn a lot more than about making textiles. Y'all learn about the place, the people, their civilisation. Each customs has not just one technique or 1 textile, they have multiple techniques. And learning that has been such a souvenir to someone like me who appreciates textile culture," she enthused.
For the many kilometres travelled visiting remote villages, she named her company Kilomet109, which is also the altitude between her hometown and Hanoi, where her flagship store is.
Acknowledging that producing eco-friendly wearable using natural materials or working with traditional weavers is not unique, Thao Vu said, "I'm not the first 1 in Vietnam or in the world to effort to work with communities or to utilise the old methods to create something new. But I am the first i to change what exists in Vietnam."
It has taken years to build relationships and trust. Just to convince local craftswomen to move away from traditional black and indigo hues took several years. "Trust hither is not about the coin. It's about sharing your vision of using textiles for real products."
The difficult work has paid off. Thao Vu has managed to apply ancient techniques to create contemporary fashion that'due south urban, well-made and trendy. "With every new drove, I try to apply one or two new techniques and introduce one or two new communities," she shared.
Most chiefly, Thao Vu believes in the storytelling of how each quilted jacket is a genesis of the creative journey she has with Vietnamese artisans. "I want people who put on my clothes to not merely know about the garment, but likewise empathise the story backside the garment every bit well."
To showcase Vietnam'south indigenous cloth craft to the world, Thao Vu went public with her make at Elle'south Style Journey in 2017, followed by an exhibition at the London Design Biennale 2018. She was too selected as Immature Creative Entrepreneur for Fashion & Blueprint Award past the British Quango. "I e'er prefer to nowadays the work in the context of an exhibition; to be able to tell the story behind the products. People who are not in Vietnam will be able to look at this state in that perspective. And that is a privilege for me," she said.
Her line is now carried in eco-centric boutiques in Germany and Portugal, and as well sold online past 'slow fashion' stores in Bangkok and Los Angeles. "The function that I bask from my work is the collaboration, not just with communities and artisans, only too with other artists and creative communities outside of Vietnam. I love to tell people about my civilization in a very modernistic context."
Adapted from the series Remarkable Living. Watch full episodes on CNA, every Sunday at eight.30pm.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/remarkableliving/sustainable-fashion-in-vietnam-255731
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