Top 5 Asian Textiles: May 8, 2024

It’s Day 15 of my Spring Challenge!

As a reminder, this challenge means that either you get an email in your inbox 5 times per week until May 31st (which means I get a set of luxurious, vintage jammies) OR I have to donate $5 to a charity I hate for every week that I miss the goal.

Also, I’m halfway through the challenge! 😳

Series #3: Top 5 Asian Textiles.

Today’s pick: Seung from Cambodia

Rajana Threads and SeungKhmer have been my intros to Khmer fashion. At times, we get used to thinking of traditional textiles as relics of the past that we have to forcefully preserve and that have no place in the world of today.

But my first brush with Cambodian fashion coming from modern-day brands really drives home the point of traditional textiles: that they change, they adapt, and they will continue to fit into the world, because humans’ awe of beauty is eternal.

One of our previous issues discussed Cambodian golden silk, usually worn by the wealthy. Cambodia also boasts of another fabric named seung, which can be silk (or cotton, or at times, a blend of both). However, the fabric doesn’t stand alone - the popularity of the seung is equal to the techniques used to design its patterns.

The Rattana top above depicts the Hol technique, a triumph in ikat (a way for patterns to be painted on to the fabric). Hol allows for more intricate, repetitive, patterns, and is usually set on these lighter seung fabrics.

Designs commonly depict geometric patterns, like the diamonds above, natural life, or scenes from daily life. You can see more examples of seung fabric and ikat in SeungKhmer’s designs below, all with a blend of contemporary and traditional.

And that’s a wrap on Series #3 of Cross Couture!

This…wasn’t easy, honestly. I’m used to consuming information on fashion, but delving super deep into the history of the various pieces I like, versus just learning about it casually is a different beast.

Academic books and papers are off-limits, displays are limited by location (although shoutout to online displays!), and its not like you can grab a local by the phone everyday.

This was also a bit harder cause life got a bit more crowded in the last week, so I was cranking out history-based posts in my 15-minute lunch breaks. But it definitely is getting me in the practice of just writing and pushing stuff out there, so I’m glad.

These 15-minute posts also mean that my posts aren’t as cohesive as I’d like them to be. The lack of comprehensive editing has meant that they’re sometimes historical, sometimes fangirly, and usually run the gambit in terms of length. Again, the point of this is just to write, but I know I’ll look back at this and cringe in 3 months.

I’m also so used to saying terms like ikat or batik that I forget that it isn’t second nature to everyone, which means I’m pausing to figure out exactly how I can communicate what these terms mean. It’s definitely a fun exercise in communication!

What I’ve loved about these posts so far is the intersection of politics, war, colonization, and more in the world of fashion. I’ve met too many people who feel that fashion is separate from the rest of the world, but in fact, everything we wear builds upon and is built by happenings in society, because humans are driven by a need to tell their stories and to pursue beauty.

So in an effort to highlight those intersections, I’ll be bringing you Cross Couture’s Series #4: Fashion x Crisis.

Stay tuned!

Do you have a textile you love? One you think is just ugly and should be eradicated? Maybe I got something wrong and you want to correct me? Reply to this email!

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xoxo,

Simran8