For centuries, the Pouthai women of Savannakhet Province in southern Laos have woven fabrics using natural dyes and fibers from their surrounding environment. Phouthai people, who live along the Xepon River, are now famous for the quality of their hand woven, organically-grown, indigo-colored cotton fabric.

Through the work of the Lahasinh Company, these beautiful textiles are now being marketed to the world under the Laha label.

Laha's mission is to support sustainable development, poverty eradication and the preservation of traditional culture in Laos through the production of fabrics from locally available materials.

A wide of variety of products that include clothing, accessories and furnishings are made for Laha from uniquely dyed and woven textiles. Laha products portray the wonderful designs and patterns created by large village looms.

OckPopTok brings people together through textiles to exchange knowledge and ideas. This concept is embodied in our name, which in Lao means ‘east meets west'.

Working in partnership with development agencies and the Lao Women's Union, we have trained artisans from remote areas in product design and other textile business skills. Our services are supported by our customers, with a percentage of sales going towards training villagers and thus sustaining the link between villages and markets.

In April 2006, we founded Fibre2Fabric, a non-profit gallery that focuses on hand-crafted textiles as a way to explore and explain Lao culture. We curate three exhibitions a year, taking an in-depth look at both the cultural importance of weaving and the techniques used.

Our gallery is located in the old quarter of Luang Prabang, close to the Mekong River. The weaving centre is 2 km out of town.

Books are a rare commodity in Laos. One of our goals is to build a collection of books and magazines available for anyone who wishes to read. We sell, rent, buy and trade all kinds of books.

We have created a rental section and ask visitors to pay a minimal fee when using our library, although Lao people can borrow books free. We mostly specialize in classic literature but carry a large selection of non-fiction, bestsellers, foreign language books and books on South-East Asia. When visitors trade books with us, we offer cash, or credit on books, food and drinks.

CAMACrafts is a non-profit, self-help project which markets handicrafts made by Lao artisans. We strive to provide a sustainable method of income for village women that would otherwise be unavailable.

Our products are entirely handmade using traditional patterns and techniques, which helps preserve the traditional needlework skills of Hmong and Lao women such as appliqué, cross stitch, embroidery and batik. This work provides employment for more than 250 women, an estimated 70% of whom are the only cash earners for their families.

Money earned from the handicrafts is largely used to send their children to school, and to provide food and medicine for their family.

Mulberries is a not-for-profit company that seeks to create income generating opportunities for Lao peoplein a socially and environmentally responsible way. 

Our company, in partnership with over 200 village families, specializes in the production of naturally-dyed, handmade Lao silk. We foster traditional silkworm rearing, reeling, weaving, and natural dyeing in villages, while providing training, tools and a market for sale and distribution.

We actively promote social and environmental awareness in the villages where we work by encouraging sustainable alternatives to opium production and harmful "slash-and-burn" agricultural practices.

We also stress to villagers the importance of traditional natural dyes, which are more environmentally friendly than the widely used chemical alternatives.