Hmong skirt - Keeping traditions alive
If you’ve met Pok (one of our Passa Paa founders) you know that her Hmong background is one of the things that makes her more proud. Every day and every step, Pok leads Passa Paa to be a company that promotes and makes space for Hmong traditions, Hmong techniques, skills and artisans. That is why our version of the Hmong skirt is one of Pok’s favourite products we have ever made. It encompasses almost all the Hmong textile traditions!
Everything started with one of Pok's very own garments. Nothing less than her Hmong pleated wedding skirt! Other than weddings, this traditional skirts are also worn for Hmong New Year and various other traditional ceremonies.
Using this specific skirt as a source of inspiration, we knew we wanted to take on the challenge of mixing cross-stitching, hand printing, appliqué AND pleats into one majestic piece that would be a Passa Paa Hmong skirt. .
“ We’re on a never ending mission to keep these beautiful Hmong textile traditions alive for the future!! ”
The process takes a long time, loads of patience, many hands and many artisans to make. Some skirts can take 2 to 3 months!
Each skirt is made out of 3 panels each 6.5 meters long, we almost needed a longer studio to work on it! The first bottom panel has the cross stitch patterns. The second panel is traditionally made with indigo batik and applique except we had to trade the wax batik part for printing as it would just take far too long. The third panel is the pleated waist panel that holds the whole skirt together with a stitch some called the “fish’s scale”. The end result is a wrap around skirt so therefore you can adjust it according to your size, smart right?
The fabric took a little journey to Xieng Khouang, a remote province in Laos that boarders with Vietnam and is home to many skilled Hmong artisans. We asked one of our 'cousins' over there to hand thread and pleat the 6.5m of indigo dyed, printed, appliquéd and cross stitched fabric.
Please take a moment to see the pictures above and the videos below. Notice the detail of each pleat and stitch. Our favourite picture is the one where you can see 4 of our artisans working on the fabric at the same time. Can you imagine all the conversations that happen during the making of this skirt?
This is what happens traditionally in Hmong villages as well. Skirts are women’s work, mothers make them for their daughters and are passed through generations. Now a days, it is very difficult to find these skirts. They take a looong time to make and somehow they are loosing their space in our faster paced world. Very often now at the Hmong New Year gatherings you will see Hmong women wearing a paired down version where the fabric has been machine printed and the applique sewn on by machine too. We understand that this makes for a more affordable option for many, but at Passa Paa we strive to keep traditional Hmong skills alive!
Isn’t the result stunning?
Now that you know how hard it is to make these, you will probably understand why we don’t have tons of these in stock. Each skirt is unique, one of a kind and made only by order. These skirts are our most intricate work in our collection.
If you'd like to add one of these to your wardrobe (or to display on the wall) we'd love to make one for you. Just drop us a line to: info@passa-paa.com .