I recently had the pleasure of meeting Thao Vu, who is the designer, artist and eco-entrepreneur behind the ready-to-wear, slow fashion, couture brand Kilomet109.
There are very few sustainable fashion brands in Vietnam, and I wanted to ask Thao how her label however Kilomet109, launched in 2012, has become one of the most unique. Kilomet109 is renowned for effortlessly merging contemporary silhouettes with traditional Vietnamese techniques of natural dyeing, beeswax printing, hand quilting and embroidery.
WHAT WAS THE VISION BEHIND THE BRAND?
After graduating as a fashion designer, Thao connected with ethnic women in communities throughout Vietnam through craftlink, which is a Vietnamese not – for – profit Fair Trade organization which helps traditional craft producers to revive their culture and improve their livelihoods through handicraft production and marketing. Through these communities she was able to learn the art of natural dyeing, silk production, and fabric weaving.
Keen to build on what she had learnt, Thao started working with women from Cao Bang in 2009, and after four and a half years together they were able to establish a creative language that enabled them to communicate and preserve local wisdom, which is what makes the label so distinctive.
The philosophy behind Kilomet109is to use design innovation as a means of raising public awareness about “at risk” rural minority communities in Vietnam and supporting the preservation of craft villages. Thao continues to work directly with local artisans from the growing through to production stages of each hand-made garment, rather than using mass-produced processes. This has resulted in a team that work together to grow the organic fibres, spin, weave, print and dye the fabrics using traditional vegetable dying techniques. For buttons and other trimmings, Thao sources natural sustainable materials such as nuts, wood, coal, stone, bamboo and bone and she also uses her large personal collection of traditional costumes and other indigenous artifacts for design inspiration, helping to preserve Vietnam’s rich fashion and textile heritage through her work.
NATURAL DYEING
The reason I love this brand so much is their use of natural dyes and traditional printing techniques. In many of minority ethnic communities in Vietnam, expertise in the use of natural dyes is passed down from one generation to the next; this includes knowledge on plant species, dyeing processes, and the impact of weather fluctuations on pigment composition. But what also makes Kilomet109 unique is that they grow all of the indigo that is used for their products.
Today these natural dyeing traditions are rare, as modern methods generally favour synthetic indigo dye, which is made from petrochemicals and leaves behind toxic chemical waste. In comparison, natural indigo dye is sustainable because after the pigment has been extracted all the water used in the process can be used to irrigate crops, and fertilizer can be created from the leaves after the dye has been extracted and after it is composted.
In addition to Indigo, Kilomet109 also use Yam root for dyeing fabrics; it grows wild on large tree vines in remote forest areas of northern Vietnam. Yam root hunting is arduous work; each root weighs between 1-2 kilograms. The outside of the root is dark brown in colour, gnarly in shape, and rough to touch. The inside of the tuber is as hard as the outside, like a tree root, and has a beautiful burnt ochre colour.
In Vietnam, the yam root was traditionally used to dye cotton peasant clothes in both the Red River and Mekong delta regions up until the mid-twentieth century.
The tubers have traditionally been used for preserving nets and leather due to their relatively high tannin content, but they are also used to colour fabric, in shades of rose pink, baked brick, to clay soil, and dark chocolate. These days the yam root has mostly fallen out of favour, replaced by cheaper more accessible alternatives
Another technique employed by Kilomet109 is batik beeswax drawing, an ancient technique used to create patterns and motifs on dyed fabric, and in Vietnam the Blue H’mong community in rural Hoà Bình, are known for applying this technique to their own textiles, creating traditional patterns. I asked Thao is there is a history of using other natural ingredients?
Yes…..the yam root flower, vang flower, vang dang tree bark, henna wood fibres and the stick lac beetle are all traditionally used as fabric dyes…….
THE MiêN COLLECTION
In October 2020 Thao presented Kilomet109’s latest collection “Miên” at the Goethe-Institut in Hanoi. Miên (meaning in the long view) builds upon the previous collections Phiêu (Unburdened) and Hạt (Seed) continuing the journey of eco textile experimentation and innovation that defines the label.
With this collection, Kilomet109 has expanded the geographical area and the number of artisan communities with whom they collaborate, moving beyond the remote mountainous villages of North West Vietnam to now also include artisans and techniques from the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta regions.
The collection includes many traditional Vietnamese textile techniques that have been modernized combined with modern digital printing on crepe silk fabric and ebony fruit dye is used in combination with other indigenous plant dyes and an array of natural fabrics to create exciting new shades of colour all while maintaining the integrity of classical craftsmanship.
If you are interested in learning more about the traditional techniques used by Kilomet109, you can sign up for one of the natural dyeing and weaving workshops that Thao runs in Cao Bang, which can be booked through her collaboration with the online learning platform Vacation with an Artist (VAWAA). VAWAA workshops provide an opportunity for creatives with a passion for textiles to work directly with artisan communities in Vietnam and around the world.
THE KILOMET109 FLAGSHIP STORE IS LOCATED AT #64 QUANG AN STREET, WEST LAKE, HANOI.
