Session 89 summary
In 2018 after her engineering studies, Lucie decided to volunteer with an organization in Asia and she was sent to Vietnam to teach English to students and most of them were actually from indigenous community which she didn’t know before going there and that is where she discovered their traditional clothes mostly hand woven which she found very beautiful and was impressed by it and she wanted to bring back to her country some of them. When she went back to France she had that back in her mind. She also saw other products and handicrafts from different parts/groups of the world being sold and people complimented them which his made her think of doing something. So, with Mary who was also a volunteer in Asia, they decided to create TrendEthics around textile projects to support indigenous communities especially women, to develop their weaving craft/activity and to find more opportunities because Lucie feels that the difficulty is to find a market for the products because sometimes the local market is not really interested in the products. As she knows in Vietnam there are some indigenous communities that are feeling less proud of their work because other communities don’t really see the beauty of it and make fun of them. So, the communities don’t see the beauty of their own work and that is why TrendEthics found that there is more market in Europe or for tourists but for local market is a bit complicated for the communities they work with.
After creating TrendEthics and setting some contacts in different villages, Lucie went for one year in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Burma to visit the different contacts that they had linked. Because she and Mary used to volunteer, they managed to get different contacts and Mary already searching for weavers so they already had a network and Lucie just needed to visit those network/people to build the project. She always firsts visits someone who is not from the community but who knows them very well so that the people could trust Lucie and translate for her because that is a big challenge as many communities do not speak the language of country and sometimes she needs to have two translators. Then talking with the women she tried to understand what they want, if they want to develop their activity, if they are willing to structure it a little bit so that they can get orders from clients because most of them just weave and try to sell the products. But TrendEthics is convinced that if they have a catalogue of designs and colours then people can order some fabrics and that is a better business for them than them trying to sell what they have- it is much more sustainable in terms of revenues and time for them. They need a catalogue because people don’t know what they can do. So, TrendEthics works with them if they are willing to work with them to create a catalogue of their own design from their village since each village has their own design. They also include the name in the local language, the meaning of the design, then they take photos of it and ask the people to weave it. It is often a big challenge because they often forget what the designs mean, so they have to go to an elder to ask about it whether it represents a tree, bird, etc. Lucie feels that it is also a good experience for them to see that their story is really woven in those fabrics and find it interesting. Another point when they meet is the material, since Lucie is an engineer who studied environmental engineering for her it is very important that the material is sustainable. So, where did it came from, is there any issues- there are two options which appear; the first being they are able to do natural dye so they have available cotton which they can wither grow or find it and then dye it, but the question of how do they dye it arises. Do they use any chemicals? Do they used any plants? At one time they had a big misunderstanding for e.g. with some weavers who didn’t know that they were actually using some dyes which are natural but they added some powder which was chemical but they were unaware of that. Hence the quality of the natural dye is also a challenge and so they work with them to find a suitable material and try to avoid the yarn that comes from the market because they don’t know where they are sourced from. So in each country, they only managed properly in Vietnam, they have a supplier of polyester yarn, they are also trying to develop recycled polyester. They know that there is an equals label so that the dying is done in good condition.
After ordering a catalogue of designs and colours, and with this catalogue they can start working with the women. So, they will order some products/ fabric and work with other people who can do the sewing either in France or in the countries the product are being made, to make final products which is sold in France. They also try to put the craftsmen in contact with the designers or other people so that their business can grow. Due to Covid they were unable to develop the local sales especially because there are less tourists and they hope to develop it in the future. They focus on the quality of the product and pay special attention to the finishing e.g. the zipper.
About the Speaker
Lucie Tailhades
In 2018, Lucie Tailhades, on her return from a voluntary service in Vietnam, joined TrendEthics. Touched by the ecology and the cultural richness of the ethnic groups of South East Asia, she wishes to make their know-how, their textile industry and their sustainable way of life known. She spent one year in July 2019, to structure weaving programmes in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Burma, but also to accompany local social or ecological initiatives. She is now working in a start-up to measure environmental and social impact of products such as clothes, accessories, shoes, decoration. This experience helped her improve her knowledge in finding sustainable suppliers and building a responsible supply chain. Besides she continues to develop the NGO TrendEthics. TrendEthics features offers collections of ethical and solidarity cushions and pouches (made from scraps), woven in South East Asia by women from ethnic minorities. TrendEthics supports 8 ethnic groups in the creation (Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam) and development (Laos) of a local weaving activity in order to preserve know-how and activities in the villages. TrendEthics acts as an incubator for ethnic minority women to help them develop their local activities, especially weaving. The weaving cooperatives are set up by TrendEthics with a local partner who is familiar with the local culture and needs. The benefits from the sales of products finance empowerment, education and environmental projects in the villages.
