Artisan Blazes Ahead On New Silk Road

Over the centuries, traditionally hand-woven and hand-dyed Van Phuc silk has captured the loyalty of customers everywhere.

However, the critical eye notices the discolouration that Van Phuc silk can get after a few washes, keeping some silk lovers away from this village in the northern Ha Tay province.

But things are about to change.

That’s because Nguyen Huu Chinh, a seasoned artisan of Van Phuc silk village, has succeeded in producing fadeproof silk, drawing influxes of customers back to the small village just 15km to the west of Ha Noi.

By producing a silk that will never fade, the 69-year-old Chinh, president of the Van Phuc Craft Village Association, says he has turned a new page that should help preserve the village’s precious craft and help it continue for centuries more.

According to Chinh, local producers’ traditional dyeing methods that use natural materials such as leaves, barks or tubers including betel leaves and brown tubers, combined with current methods of using chemical dyes, have created pieces of silk with a low rate of fast colour, forcing the artisans to find a more effective dyeing method for silk products.

Tapping into his accumulated experiences in silk-making, coupled with his passion for the craft that has held strong since he was young, Chinh first tried his hand at producing fadeproof silk in 2002.

Chinh applied dyeing methods designed for unfadable cloth production to silk making. A master of his craft however, he noted, "unlike material production, every step, even a small one, has the potential to ruin the whole silk production process."

No room for error

The dyeing process in particular requires skilful dyers to have a thorough understanding of chemical reactions. Every step, from choosing dyes, adjusting temperatures, and adjusting the concentration of alkali, to treating the post-dyed product, must all be done very carefully to maintain the silk’s quality.

All his hard work and attention to detail has finally paid off. Chinh’s product was tested and certified by the Viet Nam Textile Industrial Institute to have the highest level of fast colour.

Encouraged by the boom in silk making and the increasing demands of customers for a better quality of silk, after five years of research Chinh started producing fadeproof silk in mid-2007. It was unbelievable for the old artisan to see so many customers flock to his product immediately.

His first trial batch of 500m of fadeproof silk sold out right after it was produced in late 2007. The master artisan now finds it hard to meet the influx of orders for this kind of silk.

"I used to complain to silk producers about the quality of their silk. It faded so easily after being washed several times. But now, look at this fadeproof piece of silk. It is wonderful," said Hoang Linh, a customer from Ha Noi, showing off a bright piece of silk.

Sharing the same emotion as Linh, Kate Briel, a fan of Van Phuc silk from the Netherlands, couldn’t agree more.

"I have lived in Viet Nam for four years. I often come to Van Phuc village every few months to buy many kinds of silk products, from materials to ready-to-wear clothes," said Briel. "One of my Vietnamese friends told me about fadeproof silk produced recently by an artisan of Van Phuc. I tried out a piece and it was just amazing."

With its outstanding qualities and competitive price of just VND45,000 per metre, fadeproof silk has emerged as a new trend of fashion for silk addicts.

"Compared to other silk products, fadeproof silk has proved highly attractive with its special characteristic of having the highest fast colour rate with better texture and lustre," said Pham Minh Huong, a patron of the village.

With his product, Chinh was awarded second prize at the Fourth National Outstanding Craft Products Competition, organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2007, and a consolation prize at the Ninth Technical Innovation Contest held by the Ha Tay provincial Science and Technology Department the same year.

In an effort to develop this new direction for silk production, Chinh plans to open a training course for local workers to produce fadeproof silk and try to mobilise capital to help them improve weaving and dying techniques and upgrade looms.

Spreading the word

As a pioneer in developing household businesses since the Van Phuc village’s handicraft production co-operative collapsed in early 1990, Chinh spared no efforts to draw silk lovers to his village.

"In the early days when I started my business, not many people knew about Van Phuc silk. I cycled along the main streets of Ha Noi to sell silk every day and take orders from retail shops," he recalled.

With its qualities, Van Phuc silk gradually earned popularity among silk enthusiasts, both inside and outside the country. Now, local producers often receive orders right at their workshops or via phone and fax.

He has encouraged local producers to take part in trade fairs and exhibitions both inside and outside the country to spread the word about the village’s traditional craft. The practice has attracted interest from customers in many countries, including France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, the UK and the US.

In response to the changing demands and tastes of customers, Chinh said local producers have invested in new techniques for dyeing and thermo-processing the threads to diversify silk products, including silk clothing, handbags, lanterns and embroidered pictures.

As head of the village’s craft association, he urges local producers to put the quality of their products, not profits, as a priority because for him, "silk making is now not just a way of earning a buck, it has become a cornerstone of Vietnamese culture."

According to Chinh, the number of households taking part in the craft in Van Phuc now stands at more than 600. With over 700 looms, the craft generates jobs for more than 1,200 local workers annually.

Each household produces between 13,000-14,000m of silk every year. In 2007, the village made VND35 billion from the silk trade.

To improve Van Phuc silk quality and preserve the traditional craft, Chinh registered a trademark for the village and was certified by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Viet Nam in 2005.

In recognition of Chinh’s outstanding commitment and contribution to the preservation and development of the craft, the Indochina Arts Partnership in collaboration with the Viet Nam Fine Arts Association and the Viet Nam Co-operative Alliance presented him with the Golden Hand Award in 2007.