Mr. La's Silk Sinhs

It was through a friend two years ago that we were introduced to Mr. La, an up-and-coming silk sinh fabric designer who lives a little south of Vientiane.

In thinking about starting up Laos Essential Artistry, we always knew we wanted to include silk sinh fabric. To understand Laos is to know that sinhs are one of the main cultural identifiers of what it means to be Lao, and that's important to us.

But at the same time we also wanted to provide access to high quality handwoven silk cloth that could transcend cultural borders and stand on its own. The richness of the colors, the universally classic striped design and adherence to high standards sets Mr. La’s silk sinh fabric apart. The sinh pattern he uses is a combination of what the Lao call Sinh Mai Korm and Sinh Khan which utilizes two-color twisted silk yarns in a vertical striped design. As is written in the book Sinh and Lao Women this pattern is “a very popular type of sinh for high ranking women in the cities.”

But what we really like about Mr. La’s silk sinh fabric is his sense of bold and adventurous use of color. We especially love his brighter color fusions of pinks and purples, definitely not for the shy and retiring!

We are selling this sinh fabric mostly with tdin sinhs (hems) attached, because if someone wants to use the fabric as a sinh, they’ll need the tdin sinh and Bai spent a lot of time matching sins that complimented each sinh. But the tdin sinhs are easily detached and then the silk fabric can be used however you want.

In looking at the individual sinhs below, you will often see two sins in succession that are the same (that is the body "pheun" of the sinh is the same), while one will have a tdin sinh attached and the second photo shows the same sinh, but without a tdin sinh. But we do include a tdin sinh and when you click on the sinh without a tdin sinh you will see a tab named Additional Images, and when you click on that tab you will see an image of the tdin sinh and you can click on it to enlarge it so see and evaluate it in more detail. We also include additional images of closeup of the sinh fabric for most sinhs.

At the end of the sins you will see a photo of Mr. La at a loom with one of his weavers in the background. If you click on the photo of Mr. La and then click on the tab that is named Additional Images, you will see photos of the weaving shuttles with the spindles of twisted silk yarn which helps set these sinhs apart.