“TENUN Fashion Week” was conducted online for 3 days from October 15. It was a large-scale event in which 44 traditional weaving groups mainly from ASEAN countries participated. From Vietnam, 6 ethnic minorities in the Weaving Network of Central Vietnam attended the event.

There are hundreds of weaving groups in Vietnam and other Southeast Asia countries. Despite the fact that the traditional weaving is the traditional culture of many communities and the weaving products are also the works of art which are loved throughout the ages, the number of weavers is decreasing in the process of modernization. With this background, TENUN Fashion Week was conducted by Maybank Foundation of Malaysia in collaboration with the ASEAN Handicraft Promotion and Development Association (AHPADA) and Tanoti, a Malaysian social enterprise in order to reaffirm the importance of weaving and promote them in the Southeast Asia area.

Ms. Oanh (in the below right) joined the panel discussion.

The story behind the performance

Participating in an international fashion event was a new experience for both the ethnic minorities and FIDR staff, so we had to prepare a lot for the event. During the lockdown and the restriction on domestic travel, the weavers living in mountainous areas tried to send their traditional costumes with considerable ingenuity to FIDR staff. We jointly came up with ideas and made a short video to introduce the weaving products in which our staff served as models and used available materials. In spite of the hard conditions under the strict restrictions, the traditional weaving costumes were sent to Malaysia by international mail, and luckily, they arrived in time.

TENUN Fashion Week can be viewed at the following website
https://tenunfashionweek.com/fashion-show-archive/
・Introduction of to the weaving products of the Weaving Network of Central Vietnam
　：https://youtu.be/m3_Sy7UnNy8（1:08:50）
・Discussion part of Ms. Oanh, a staff member of FIDR
　：https://youtu.be/m3_Sy7UnNy8（1:17:35）

The traditional costume of Cotu people was chosen as a main poster design.