The Tai Lue Project

Alison Welsh

The Tai Lue Project responds to the imperative to recognise and act on the threat to the intangible cultural heritage of traditional craft communities, as the effects of mass production seep into village life. It asks the question, how can contemporary fashion design act as a vehicle for re-vitalising the market for hand-woven textiles? 

This project forms part of a 3-year cultural initiative between the UK and Thailand, the British Council’s Crafting Futures programme. Welsh worked in collaboration with the British Council on the Tai Lue Project, which developed methods of empowering female weavers in Nan Province, Thailand, enabling the women to realise the creative and business potential of their handloomed textiles. The project investigated methods of equipping the weavers with knowledge in design thinking, and new methods of integrating their cultural identity into their cloth. A programme of intensive and extensive participatory design workshops was initiated, which ran intermittently over a three-year period. Through daily meetings and practical workshops with a specific focus, such as design awareness, pattern cutting and natural dyeing, the weavers’ design thinking gradually evolved. The research revealed the need to re-think the weavers’ product promotion, to create new commercially viable garments, and to ensure that their business model maximised the economic potential of their environmentally friendly hand-dyed fabrics.  

Project Lead

Alison Welsh

Alison Welsh

Reader

Project Researchers

Jasper Chadprajong-Smith, Rhode Island School of Design 

An image from the 2018 Look Book fabric by Bandonchai dress design by Alison Welsh.
Look book image (2018) Dress fabric and garment construction by Ban Sala dress design Alison Welsh
Look book image (2018) Fabrick by Ban Sala and Garments design by Alison Welsh
The weavers wearing co-created garments at Ban Donchai
Chaing Mai Design Week exhibition 2018
An image from the 2018 Look Book fabric by Ban Sala dress design by Alison Welsh
Naturally dyed yarn at Ban Hea
The weavers from three villages wearing the first set of garments made as part of the project in 2018
Workshop at Ban Donchai by Photo Daniel Morrell
Jacket fabric by Ban Sala and Ban Donchai garment by Alison Welsh
A natural Dye Workshop at Ban Sala
Traditional Shuttle for Hand Weaving in Nan Province
Jacket Design by Welsh
Design work by Kunakorn & Nakon from Ruayboon October 2018
Tai Lue incubation for young designers with Welsh Photograph by British Council
A weaver working at Ban Hea Photograph by Daniel Morrell
A weaving Shed in Ban Hea
A close up of an indigenous weave from Ban Doncha

Collaborative Partners

The British Council 

Chiang Mai University 

Rhode Island School of Design

Outputs

Morrell, D. Welsh, A. (2021) Crafting Futures: The Tai Lue Project. (Film). Fashion Film festival Milano. 

Crafting Futures: The Tai Lue Project  

Morrell, D. Welsh, A. (2020) Crafting Futures: The Tai Lue Project. (Film) Jakarta Fashion Week 

Welsh, A. Chadprajong-Smith, J. (2020). Making Futures: Rethinking Craft Communities. (Exhibition) Taking on Global Challenges. Conference Philippines. 

Welsh, A. Chadprajong-Smith, J. (2019) The Tai Lue Project: embodying a cultural identity through cloth. International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes. Conference. Manchester. England. 

Welsh, A. Chadprajong-Smith, J. (2018) Fashioning Tradition: The Tai Lue Project. (Exhibition) Fashion Colloquium: Searching for the New Luxury. Musis. Arnhem. The Netherlands. 

http://fashioncolloquium.artez.nl 

Welsh, A. (2019) Fashioning Tradition: The Tai Lue Project. Searching for the New Luxury Revisited. Apria. The Netherlands. June issue. 

Welsh, A. Chadprajong-Smith, J. (2019The Tai Lue Project Embodying a Cultural Identity Within ClothBunka Gakuen University. Tokyo. Japan. 

Welsh, A. Chadprajong-Smith, J. (2018) (Exhibition) The Tai Lue Project. Chiang Mai Design Week. Thailand. 

Welsh, A. Chadprajong-Smith, J. (2017) Tai Lue Weaving: cultural exchange. 12th Fae Gaem Mai’s Lanna. Ethnic Exhibition. Chang Mai Convention Centre. Thailand. 

 

Talks 

Welsh, A. (2018) Handwoven co-creating clothes in India and Thailand. 

Invited Speaker at the Textile Society, Antique & Vintage Fair. Manchester 15th April. 

 

Welsh, A. (2018) Speaker. Crafts: What is critical? 

Textiles Society Conference. The Hostry. Norwich Cathedral. 4th November. 

http://www.textilesociety.org.uk/events/event-details.php?textile-event=903 

 

Welsh, A. (2018) Chiang Mai Design Week 

Weaving the future whilst treasuring the past: The Tai Lue Project. 10th December. 

https://chiangmaidesignweek.com/en/programmes/british-council 

 

Welsh, A. (2020) Chester Beatty Museum. Dublin. 

Handweaving: The Tai Lue Project 27 February 

https://chesterbeatty.ie/assets/uploads/2019/12/Chester-Beatty-Whats-On-Jan-Apr-2020.pdf 

 

Press 

The Future is Craft. An interview with Alison Welsh. (20th November 2018) 

https://readthecloud.co/crafting-alison-welsh-en/ 

 

Weaving Futures. An Interview with Phaeo Khamphanuch the leader of Ban Hea weaving 

community talks about the Tai Lue Project. The Cloud (19th December 2018) 

https://readthecloud.co/phaeo-phafai-en 

 

‘Most importantly, the objective is to help weavers become free thinking and able to create new designs without limitation.’  

Interview with Phaeo Phafai, Ban Hea. The Cloud (2018) 

 

Thailand Today NBTWorld: Crafting Futures global program by the British Council.  

16th January 2020 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAG_kS3A0jE&feature=youtu.be 

 

Impact

The Tai Lue Project promoted a sustained engagement with weaving villages in Nan Province, Thailand, many of which were also on the brink of abandoning their cultural heritage, having adopted chemical dyes andsynthetic yarns without great commercial success. The project re-introduced eco-friendly practices into the cotton growing, spinning, dyeing, weaving and garment construction stages of the Tai Lue weaving tradition andled to the co-design and co-production of new garment ranges using handwoven Tai Lue fabrics. Welsh and Chadprajong-Smith worked closely with the leaders of 3 community enterprises representing women in Tai Lue province. Workshops explored both hard and soft skills, including pattern cutting, garment construction, design and colour workshops and organic dyeing techniques. The project also brought in young Thai designers and entrepreneurs to collaborate in the creation and marketing of new textile products. The workshops attracted participants, who commented on how the workshops had changed their practice. Thanom Teekawong, a farmer, weaver and Head of Ban Donchai Weaving Community Enterprise confirmed that ‘There is for sure opportunity. The entire group has benefited. They got an opportunity to upgrade their skills, design process, shop and display arrangement. We also got to go on study trips. We learnt pattern making. We have learnt so many things’  

Funding

British Council, Crafting Futures funding

Research Led Training

Manchester Fashion Institute, Fashion Design & Technology:  

Level 6 Fashion Collaboration Manifesto 

Level 6 Fashion Cultures 3 

Level Illustration Master Class 

 

Manchester Fashion Institute – MA/MSc Fashion and Business. Perform