In Thailand the Pwo Karen have always been known for their hand-woven textiles, with skills regarded as second to none. Weaving on back-strap looms, Karen women have traditionally provided their families with the textiles used by the entire household – blankets, shirts, tunics, skirts and the richly decorated blouses worn by married women. The skills are passed on from mother to daughter alongside knowledge of how to card, spin and dye the cotton threads.
When Sop Moei Arts turned to income-generating initiatives in 1989, textile weaving presented itself as a natural option, as it was a skill at which most women already excelled.Their knowledge of back-strap weaving was easily translated to large wooden looms capable of weaving textiles on a larger scale.
Re-inventing ethnic textiles
While some of the weavers at Sop Moei Arts continue to produce traditional fabrics on back-strap looms, most weave fabrics which are adaptations of local and regional ethnic textiles rather than faithful reproductions. Over the years Sop Moei Arts has teamed up with international fashion consultants, whose brief are not so much to come up with new designs as to teach the village weavers to rediscover their traditional fabrics by reinterpreting them.
Often, inspiration for new textiles starts with the traditional garments worn by the weavers themselves. Details such as the pompoms and tassels found on this unmarried girl’s tunic, for instance, are repeated in Sop Moei Arts shawls, scarves and runners. In the same manner, elements from many ethnic designs from Laos, Vietnam and Burma have also found their way onto the looms