Handmade Home Textiles from Laos
At Maison & Objet September 5-9, 2024
From the lovely shades of natural dyes to stunning traditional patterns and the wealth of local and natural material available to weavers. Textiles from Laos are amazing. Come and visit Maison & Objet, where five home textile exporters will exhibit. Or come and explore Laos yourself to meet many more manufacturers and their artisans!
Craftscurator has trained and coached textile manufacturers from Laos, and five of them are ready to export to the European market. They will be showcasing their products at Maison & Objet and are able to produce small to medium sized batches for international buyers, whether they are importers, retailers or decorators. Customization is also possible. Here is a short profile of the five leading exporters.
Celebration of stripes
Tai Baan Crafts is known for their beautifully textured and naturally dyed cotton fabrics. They have developed a new collection of handwoven stripes, in the lovely shades of their plant based palette. The stripes are combined with other stripes and plains to create wonderful patchwork throws and cushion covers. Tai Baan works with producer groups in rural areas of Laos and is a provisional member of the World Fair Trade Organization.
From the craft and sustainable design centre
Her Works specialized in handmade and embellished textiles. Recently, they have set up their own centre where textile research and development will take place. In the centre, they are now training the producer groups they work with, from various ethnic groups across Laos. Their range of home textiles includes wonderfully textured tabletop textiles.
A world of weaving techniques
Ock Pop Tok’s supplementary weaving is a work of art. That is why the more intricate patterns in silk, as well as the bold and more contemporary patterns in cotton are often displayed as showpieces on a wall. They also manufacture rugs, throws and cushion covers in striking colours, with all dyes meeting strict European standards. Ock Pop Tok is a social enterprise and their Living Crafts Center in Luang Prabang is certainly worth a visit.
From the jungle – a new natural fiber
Nikone Handcraft has a small workshop in the capital of Laos, Vientiane, where they have over 20 skilled weavers making the intricate patterns by hand. They mix locally grown cotton with a jungle vine that is unique to Laos, which creates a beautiful textured effect. Their range of checked cushion covers in subtle colours is stunning, but they also work with fibers in their natural tones.
A new take on traditional textiles
TAEC, the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Centre, is an exporter from Laos but they also show their textile expertise in their own museum in Luang Prabang. Their collection consists of home textiles from the Tai Lue community, as well as from a group in Southern Laos, called Nge. TAEC works closely with artisans from various ethnic groups and can co-create with fashion and homeware designers.
Explore sources in Laos!
For adventurous buyers wanting to explore themselves, the Lao Handicraft Festival is taking place from October 26 – Nov 3, 2024 in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. All Lao companies Craftscurator has worked with will exhibit there, alongside many producer groups from ethnic groups throughout the country.
The Lao Handicraft Festival is followed by the ASEAN Traditional Textile Symposium November 4 – 6, 2024, also in Vientiane, Laos. You can also visit weaving centers of the exporters in our group, and meet their talented artisans.
Meet Irene in Laos, or reach out to know more about these events.
Meet us in Paris!
You can find the new collections by 5 exporters from Laos at trade show Maison & Objet, Paris from September 5-9, 2024 in booth A176 in hall 7B.
Exporters from Bangladesh, Indonesia and Cambodia will also exhibit in this booth, which is organized by CBI, running a 5 year export coaching programme for over 80 small and medium sized businesses. Craftscurator is the business coach for 11 companies from Laos, all manufacturing home textiles.
Meet Irene at the show or get in touch to meet online.
