mYak
mYak produce pashminas, scarves, throws, blankets, and accessories of the highest quality baby yak wool sourced directly from communities that support the survival of the Tibetan nomadic way of life.
Norlha
Norlha produce finely woven scarves, throws, blankets, and toys made from the very best Tibetan yak fiber. Weaving over 10,000 of the finest scarves, shawls, and blankets and over 2,000 meters of fabric each year, Norlha produce two seasonal accessories collections a year. Fabrics are created in a range of colors, weaves, and patterns, including herringbone, stripes, plain and plaid. Made from 100% yak fiber, or mixed with cashmere or silk, Norlha produce a broad range of fabric weights and hand. Also producing a small traditional Tibetan wardrobe collection that includes men’s traditional shirts and high quality monk’s shawls or zens, Norlha also produce a small knitwear collection of sweaters, cowls, leg warmers, and mittens.
Yaks are protected from the intense cold in Tibet, by a soft insulating layer of fur known as Khullu, The down, which is covered by a courser long guard hair, sheds each spring, when it is collected by the herders. The herders traditionally spin and weave sheep wool, and use the long guard hair of the yak for course everyday items, like tents and door covers. Spinning yak fiber is not part of the Tibetan nomadic tradition, and was introduced by Norlha’s founder Kim Yeshi, who brought the finer Indian weaving techniques to the villages, to make best use of the fine Khullu Yak fiber. Yeshi sent four people to train in silk weaving in Cambodia, and then to Nepal to learn to weave wool. They returned to the village with looms and two trainers, where a further thirty people were trained. Founding the Norlha workshop in 2007 to house the spinning and weaving operations, the first collection was presented in Paris in 2008.
Located in Zorge Ritoma, in the Kanlho Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China, 1,500 inhabitants, 6,000 Yak, and 20,000 sheep are spread over a wide area of pasture at an altitude of 3,2000 meters. The entire population is nomadic. Herders live a tough life, where a woman’s chores begin at 4am and don’t end till midnight. Not surprisingly, many young people seek alternative work in the towns. Norlha offers families another alternative to herding or leaving.
The Tibetan plateau is a place of great beauty and grace, currently facing major overgrazing issues through local sheep herding, one of the few means of earning income in the area. Training and employing nomads high on the plateau to process and transform the Yak fiber, through a combination of traditional techniques and modern technology, helps Norlha develop the local Tibetan economy, provide employment, and free the inhabitants from the need to migrate as the only means of sustaining themselves. Norlha is a story of beauty, tradition, self sufficiency and hard work, each of these things is woven into each and every Norlha scarf, shawl, wrap and throw.
Website: http://norlhatextiles.com
