Brocade weaving is not only the measure of women’s ingenuity and capability but the product is also used as offering to ancestors and gods. Therefore, H’Re people attach importance to preserving and promoting brocade weaving.
Holding in her hand a newly-completed modern brocade wedding dress for a guest, Ms. Pham Thi Y Hoa - a resident of Teng Village, shared that brocade weaving is considered a hereditary job. Every girl in the village needs to know how to weave brocade.
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Ms. Pham Thi Y Hoa weaving brocade
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Like other H’re ethnic girls, when Y Hoa was a little girl, she was familiar with looms and learned the ways how to weave brocade form her mother and grandmother.
At the age of 13, Y Hoa could earn her living by weaving brocade. Since then, she has had a great passion for this work, and she can sit at the loom all day. When she grew up, she wanted to be a kindergarten teacher; however, she has always wondered how to develop the traditional brocade weaving.
“My village’s brocade products are beautiful with good quality like in other villages, but why are these products unknown to many people? What can I do to help my villagers live with brocade weaving?” Those questions kept popping up in her mind.
To find the answer, Y Hoa studied and started a business with brocade weaving. In 2018, she decided to focus on improving the forms and the quality of brocade products. In order to meet the diverse needs of customers, apart from traditional brocade products, she also designed modern, eye-catching and trendy products.
Brocade products do not include clothes and towels but they are also bags, ties, “Ao dai,” wedding outfits, and modern items, among others.
Taking full advantage of the internet, Y Hoa bravely took the lead in popularizing brocade products on social media and e-commerce platforms. Moreover, Y Hoa pro-actively participated in fairs and exhibitions on brocade products and ethnic minority customs to introduce and spread H’Re brocade products to other people. Up to now, brocade products made by Y Hoa have been popularized to 14 countries all over the world.
According to Y Hoa, her biggest wish is that local brocade weaving will be more widely known. Thereby, H’Re brocade will see stronger development, contributing to creating jobs and stable income for local people, as well preserving and upholding the traditional brocade weaving of the predecessors.
Translated by Quynh Oanh