With each collection, we pay homage to the superior quality of natural yarns, and honour the beauty and grace of involved artisanal work from sourcing to refining. Each collection is designed to highlight the magnificence of one particular fibre and textile technique. Although presented as a collection, every handmade item is one-of-a-kind in natural shades and variations in patterns.
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Our first ever collection is a demonstration of the extraordinary quality of Lotus, one of the rarest and most sacred fibre in the world. The lotus flower (Nelumbo Nucifera) is an ancient water plant that grows wild on lakes all over Southeast Asia, but only in a few places it has been used for fibre making. In an environment of remote beauty in Myanmar, at Lake Inle, there is a small community of local fibre makers and Lotus weavers, and their story is closely bound up with that of Valma.
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"A Breath of Eternity"
lotusLotus is a sacred flower in Buddhism, a symbol of purity and the human potential to achieve enlightenment. One of the most common metaphysical analogies compares the Lotus' perennial rise from a miry environment to faultless beauty to the evolution of consciousness, from instinctive impulses to spiritual liberation. For Buddhists, the lotus flower symbolizes the most exalted state of humans, with the head held high, pure and undefiled in the sun, and the feet rooted in the world of experience.
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Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva form the triumvirate of the supreme deities. While Vishnu is the preserver of the universe, Brahma is responsible for creation. Shiva's role is to destroy the world when it is in a state of chaos, and to recreate order. Brahma was born from the first Lotus Flower, that originated from the naval of Vishnu.
In his reincarnation of Matsya, Vishnu also saved Manu Vaivasvata, who is the progenitor of current humanity. Forewarned about the great flood, Manu Vaivasvata saved humanity by building a boat that carried his family and the seven great yogis to safety.
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Mythology also has it, that Manu Vaivasvata taught humans how to weave: "... out of the lake of millions of lotus flowers, Manu brought the harvest to the people (…) took shiny fine threads from the heart of the lotus, marvellously connected them to a thread and taught them to make a yarn of the highest quality,
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(…) and only the wing of a butterfly is finer and lighter than the divine lotus thread." Given the sacred origin and laborious production, lotus threads have been mostly used for monk robes and coverings for Buddha images.
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In Mynamar, the birth of Lotus weaving is believed to date back more than a century, when a skilled weaver named Sa Oo noticed the fibre quality of lotus flowers blossoming across Inle Lake. The sacred symbolism inspired the devout artisan to create a monk robe for an abbot that she revered. With the opening of Myanmar, the lotus fabric of Inle Lake has travelled beyond the pious sphere and made its grand entrance into the world of luxury fashion. The outcome of the arduous procedures of making are only a few metres of fabric made for a highly discerning clientele.
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"Vigour and Luminosity"
sumptuous eleganceHandwoven with silk, the result is an extremely fine, supple and naturally breathable fabric that captivates the senses with its nuanced play of colors reconciling the rough raw Lotus with delicate silk. Discover the superior quality and charm of this precious material and treat yourself with a piece of timeless beauty.All items of the collection are handwoven from selected Lotus yarns in Myanmar before shipped to our Swiss manufacture for quality control and refining.
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