Vietnam’s rich culture owes much to its vibrant community of 54 ethnic minority groups.
This is a short film about the many outfits made by Hmong artisans across Northern Vietnam. The regional differences have been created by geographical isolation as the Hmong spanned out having crossed into Vietnam from China approximately three centuries ago.
In certain areas, Hmong women intricately embroider with silk thread, while other groups decorate their clothing with beautiful batik designs. While most Hmong use cotton, the Black Hmong in Sapa grow hemp from seed and weave some of the world’s finest hand spun hemp. What all groups share in common is their love of textiles and their passion shines through in every exquisite detail.
In certain areas, Hmong women intricately embroider with silk thread, while other groups decorate their clothing with beautiful batik designs. While most Hmong use cotton, the Black Hmong in Sapa grow hemp from seed and weave some of the world’s finest hand spun hemp. What all groups share in common is their love of textiles and their passion shines through in every exquisite detail.
The black Hmong are famed artisans even amongst talented textile makers as rich and diverse as those found throughout Vietnam.
Men and women wear rich silk hemmed hemp jackets dyed deep blue with natural indigo. Silk details are used to adorn the sleeves and a great deal of symbology is used to tell stories via textiles. In the villages of mountainous provinces in the far north of Vietnam, hemp seeds are planted in April, and by June the two-metre-tall plants are ready for harvest. The laborious production process sees the hemp bark twisted into yarn, wound into four-metre lengths known as skeins, then pounded and softened by a foot mill, before being woven on looms.
Hmong women wear some of the most incredible costumes of all ethnic groups and can be identified by their rich indigo dyed hemp jackets and exquisitely embroidered belts and collars. It is impossible to trek through a Hmong village without seeing women doing something related to the production of their costumes. Designs representing agriculture, family and animism are meticulously stitched in silk with pin-point precision. The practice of embroidery is deeply rooted in the cultural history of the Hmong, with techniques passed on orally through the generations.
In Sapa, Hmong women are responsible for making new clothes each year. The entire hemp process, from sowing the seeds through to weaving the cloth takes many months and culminates in intricate embroidery with patterns and symbols which tell the story of the wearer.
The baste fibre is obtained from the stalk of the male hemp plant. Stalks are tied into bundles and sun dried before women strip off the fibrous outer layer. These short pieces of fibre are joined to make a continuous length for weaving. The material is wound in a figure eight ball held in the hand. A wooden loom with a bamboo comb is set up for the weaving process. Natural hemp cloth is then dyed with Indigo.
The Hmong in Sapa calendar their woven hemp cloth using an ancient process. The fabric is placed over a well-worn and rounded wooded log. The specially chosen rock is rubbed with indigo dyed beeswax, placed on top and placed on top of the log with hemp fabric sandwiched in between. A woman balances on top of the rock with her feet apart and moves side to side in a see saw action back and forth, grinding the wax into the fabric. This process flattens the threads and fills in the spaces between warp and weft. The cloth becomes finer, smoother, softer and more lustrous - almost with a metallic sheen.
During the Autumn months, most Hmong women can be seen sewing their intricate, layered belts and collars.
Designs representing village life and animist mysticism such as stars, trees, rice terraces and family are meticulously stitched in silk with pinpoint precision. Every new year it is the wife’s duty to make a new set of clothes for her husband and children in time for Tet holiday at the end of January.
Men and women wear rich silk hemmed hemp jackets dyed deep blue with natural indigo. Silk details are used to adorn the sleeves and a great deal of symbology is used to tell stories via textiles. In the villages of mountainous provinces in the far north of Vietnam, hemp seeds are planted in April, and by June the two-metre-tall plants are ready for harvest. The laborious production process sees the hemp bark twisted into yarn, wound into four-metre lengths known as skeins, then pounded and softened by a foot mill, before being woven on looms.
Hmong women wear some of the most incredible costumes of all ethnic groups and can be identified by their rich indigo dyed hemp jackets and exquisitely embroidered belts and collars. It is impossible to trek through a Hmong village without seeing women doing something related to the production of their costumes. Designs representing agriculture, family and animism are meticulously stitched in silk with pin-point precision. The practice of embroidery is deeply rooted in the cultural history of the Hmong, with techniques passed on orally through the generations.
In Sapa, Hmong women are responsible for making new clothes each year. The entire hemp process, from sowing the seeds through to weaving the cloth takes many months and culminates in intricate embroidery with patterns and symbols which tell the story of the wearer.
The baste fibre is obtained from the stalk of the male hemp plant. Stalks are tied into bundles and sun dried before women strip off the fibrous outer layer. These short pieces of fibre are joined to make a continuous length for weaving. The material is wound in a figure eight ball held in the hand. A wooden loom with a bamboo comb is set up for the weaving process. Natural hemp cloth is then dyed with Indigo.
The Hmong in Sapa calendar their woven hemp cloth using an ancient process. The fabric is placed over a well-worn and rounded wooded log. The specially chosen rock is rubbed with indigo dyed beeswax, placed on top and placed on top of the log with hemp fabric sandwiched in between. A woman balances on top of the rock with her feet apart and moves side to side in a see saw action back and forth, grinding the wax into the fabric. This process flattens the threads and fills in the spaces between warp and weft. The cloth becomes finer, smoother, softer and more lustrous - almost with a metallic sheen.
During the Autumn months, most Hmong women can be seen sewing their intricate, layered belts and collars.
Designs representing village life and animist mysticism such as stars, trees, rice terraces and family are meticulously stitched in silk with pinpoint precision. Every new year it is the wife’s duty to make a new set of clothes for her husband and children in time for Tet holiday at the end of January.