How first Vietnamese 'lotus silk' weaver rose to success

Vietnamese weaver Phan Thi Thuan hitches up hertrousers as she wades into a lotus paddy to gather the stems needed to make arare and highly sought-after thread.

Her great-aunt made and sold traditional silk to the French during colonialrule, passing the technique on to Thuan, who started weaving when she was sixin her village on the outskirts of Hanoi.

But three years ago Thuan spotted a new opportunity in the lotus stems leftto rot in nearby fields after the seeds had been harvested for food.

She began extracting the fibre found in the stems to make "lotus silk", anexclusive fabric highly sought by fashion designers.

"I was the first in Vietnam," the 65-year-old told AFP proudly.

"I started all by myself, then I trained those already in my workshop," sheadded.

Farmers often toil for hours to clear lotus paddies of rotting stems, whichruin the soil and bring unwanted insects.

But thanks to her vision, Thuan today leads a team of about 20 mostlyfemale workers who snap off the stems in the paddies, before they tease outthe fragile fibres and roll them into thread.

Dressed head-to-toe in brown silk and wearing a pearl necklace -- the sameoutfit she dons as she picks through the lotus paddies -- Thuan describes herwork.

It's a painstaking process -- a large scarf requires the thread of around9,200 stems and would take one worker around two months to complete -- butThuan insists it's worth it.

"I see this as my task now, to generate jobs, and to do my bit for theenvironment," she said, adding that during busy periods, she employs hundredsto weave from home.

The profits are another reason to persevere.

While a regular silk scarf might go for 20 dollars, even a smaller lotus version-- popular with pre-coronavirus tourists -- fetches more than 10 times that.

Although lotus silk is made in a handful of countries -- including Myanmarand Cambodia -- Thuan is seen as an innovator in Vietnam.

She has been supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, whichkickstarted a three-year national-level project to further develop theharvesting technique.

Thuan also runs training sessions during the school holidays, hoping toshow children there is space for dynamism even in this ancient profession.Nguyen Thi Xoa, 40, was taught by Thuan in 2017 and she now wants herchildren to follow in her thread.

"At the beginning it was very difficult, but now I love doing it," shesaid. "It's a stable job and I'm proud of it."(AFP)