Our suppliers
Supporting artists and weavers in Indonesia and Thailand.
As our business has grown and evolved over the past forty years, we have built strong relationships with the people who make our products as well as local buyers who we relied on heavily throughout the pandemic. We may have been trading in Southeast Asian textiles for nearly half a century, but we're still discovering new makers and artists whose work we are passionate about bringing to the UK fabric market.
Thailand natural dyes
One such recent discovery was the work of Pii Md, a dyer in Northern Thailand. He works with locally woven cotton and bamboo fabrics, using natural dyes such as Indigo, ebony berries and marigold flowers to create his unique fabric designs.
We were fortunate enough to visit Pii Md's workshop on our last visit, where we had the opportunity to witness his process first hand, from the steeping of the bark and berries to the freeform creation of his wonderful fabrics.
Expert batik artists
Over the years we have sought out a handful of world reknowned batik artists and small production lines - this means we have been able to visit the workshops and check the working conditions, and have been really please with what we have found.
Batik tulis from Java is the gold standard when it comes to Indonesian batik - drawn by hand using a canting, this form of batik is painstaking and time consuming. There is a lovely sense of community in the spaces where this handmade batik is created, largely by women sitting on the floor gossiping and chatting as they work.
Susi, our yes-woman!
There's one person who deserves a special mention here - not a supplier, but our woman on the ground in Java, Susi.
We've known Susi for years, but she really stepped up during the pandemic, sourcing fabrics and tools for us when we were unable to travel to Indonesia, and has continued to do this for us as we make an effort to clock up less airmiles.
Susi is a dynamo who is always happy to help, whether it's going on a buying mission or helping with the logistics of Diane's batik tours - we don't know where we'd be without her!