In the Thai province of Sakon Nakhon, artisanal natural dyes and textile traditions are inspiring a whole new aesthetic.

Left to right: Spools of indigo thread at Mann Craft; the brand’s founder Prach Niyomka (front right) with staff and guests on the steps of the Indigo Loom House at its craft center outside Sakon Nakhon city. (Courtesy of Mann Craft)

On a recent visit to northeastern Thailand’s Isan region, I was lucky enough to experience the natural beauty of Phu Phan National Park not once, but twice. My first encounter with it took place as I drove through ancient tropical forests en route to a village high up in the hills. The second came minutes after I had arrived at my destination, when artisans at the studio of an ethical clothing brand called Bhukram began showing me their latest creations: handwoven jackets in various shades of deep indigo or autumnal brown, each densely embroidered with scenes inspired by their surroundings, namely Phu Phan’s flora and fauna.

“The setting sun is reflecting off the water, casting red shadows in every corner of the forest,” explained Tavee Meboot, as she proudly held up a cotton shirt embellished with an impressionistic depiction of Phu Phan at dusk. A farmer who earns a second income from embroidery, she added that this work in progress had already taken her a couple of months, including every spare moment she could find between farming duties.

Next, I was shown an indigo-dyed jacket that, with its coarse threads, swirling tree branches, and astonishing attention to detail, reminded me of the old crewelwork you might find in an English antiques shop. “This piece is inspired by the morning light and freshness here,” said Sompan Lamtum, as her left hand motioned towards some woven wildflowers popping against a light blue backdrop. Around us, other members of the collective—all women—were quietly at work in different corners of Bhukram’s wooden house and garden. “Five or six women work on each piece,” explained founder Pilan Thaisuang as she guided me toward the showroom, which is open to visitors on Saturdays. “And the process begins in the forest, where we forage for our natural dyes.”

The surrounding province of Sakon Nakhon is rightly celebrated for its vivid natural threads. In villages across this sprawling corner of Isan, the weaving and dyeing of textiles has, for generations, served as a seasonal cottage industry to supplement farming income, while indigo-dye products such as tie-dye T-shirts and paa sin (skirts) are sold each weekend at a walking street market in the eponymous provincial capital. Textile enthusiasts craving insights into the enzyme-driven chemical processes and collaborative artisanship involved in indigo dyeing are also in luck. In the village of Baan Don Koi, for example, an open-air weaving facility doubles as an educational and retail center where visitors can learn about traditional processes and motifs, then buy a piece to take home with them. Due to its product quality and provision of sustainable livelihoods to local women, Don Koi has even been hailed as a national model for fabric product development by the Thai king’s fashion-designer daughter, Princess Sirivannavari.

Perhaps most exciting of all, though, are the scene’s experimentalists and iconoclasts. Amid the many co-ops and businesses working passionately with natural fibers and dyes across Sakon Nakhon—a way of life under threat due to a lack of young weavers—a few entrepreneurs stand out for their distinctive, highly covetable items and idiosyncratic approaches.

Bhukram founder Pilan Thaisuang (center) at her brand’s studio in Baan Nang Toeng. (Courtesy of Bhukram)

At the Bhukram showroom in Baan Nang Toeng, Pilan revealed that embroidery isn’t indigenous to the village where she grew up. After leaving a career in archaeology and returning home, she decided to introduce it for tactical reasons. “I look at embroidery as a tool,” she said. One goal is, naturally, to provide a decent income for the 60 or so women with whom Bhukram works. Another is more intangible. Once the pattern cutting and dyeing of each item is completed, it effectively becomes a canvas on which the embroiderer then channels their creativity. “I don’t care about technique. The artists can design freely, but they must focus on nature, our way of life,” Pilan explained. “I want each product to raise awareness about the importance of protecting our local environment.” As if on cue, the sound of a crowing rooster rang out in the distance.

Later, I found more artisanal invention in action at Mann Craft, a clothing label headquartered amid rambling gardens on the outskirts of Sakon Nakhon city. In recent years, its founder Prach Niyomka has branched out into workshops and craft fairs. On weekends, visitors to the onsite Indigo Loom House can learn about the many barks, shrubs, and plants he uses to make his colors and see cotton yarn being handspun and woven on looms. But when it comes to the fermentation and experimentation at the heart of this family-run business, Prach remains obsessive and hands-on. During my tour, he walked me into a shed full of indigo vats and spoke about them in fatherly tones. “They are my kids. I take care of them,” he said, stirring a bubbling mixture.

His ingredients are atypical—think star fruit and tomato waste—as are many of his products. Dyed yarns are sent to skilled weavers in nearby villages, who, months later, send back rolls of lustrous fabrics sporting striking color mixes and complex patterns. In his on-site boutique, they are joined by items that he paints himself, such as eco-print scarves, as well as clothes made using numerous techniques, including overdyeing. While respecting nature and folk lifestyles is at the heart of all he does, Prach is also on a mission to explore indigo dye’s untapped potential. Last year, a collaboration with Danish furniture brand Fritz Hansen culminated in a svelte leather chair painted with over 30 coats of dye. “And this year I am interested in doing more mixed-media art,” he added, standing before an abstract indigo painting on paper.

*Left to right:* Fashion designer Philip Huang at an indigo vat in Sakon Nakhon; a jacket from Philip Huang. (Courtesy of Philip Huang)

Regularly exporting their products to Bangkok, or participating in craft fairs there, Palin and Prach are both leading players in Sakon Nakhon’s small yet impactful creative class—a scene that stretches wider than fabrics. As Chomwan Weeraworawit, co-founder of the fashion brand Philip Huang, pointed out over coffee a few days later: “There’s a real community in Sakon Nakhon. You’ve got the textiles but then you’ve also got ceramists, such as Don Moo Din, and even a rice spirit brewery called Onson.”

She and her husband Philip Huang split their time between Bangkok and Brooklyn but have come to know Sakon Nakhon intimately, albeit on a professional basis. Prior to launching their brand in 2016, the couple’s interest in indigo dyeing led them to embark on a road trip across the province. The net result was a strong working relationship with several villages. “A village called Baan Dong Siew was the first one we really collaborated with,” she recalled. “We would go up there with our T-shirts and dye with them. It took a year and a bit to convince the ladies that light blue is the color we really wanted, because light blue is not seen as beautiful.”

Today, Philip Huang is, first and foremost, a purveyor of handwoven clothing and accessories in solid or turbulent tie-dye mixes of indigo blue, mud brown, ebony black, and mango yellow. But, like Bhukram and Mann Craft, it is also an evangelist for the art of natural dyeing. While Chomwan and Huang can often be found mixing in the worlds of contemporary art, fashion, and film (their clothing collaborators include British actress Tilda Swinton and Thai artists Rirkrit Tiravanija and Apichatpong Weerasethakul), they can also regularly be found mixing vats in the garden of their Bangkok studio, passing on the dye-making wisdom they have accrued to the inquisitive—just as the indigo grandmas of Sakon Nakhon did with them. “These colors need to be shared,” said Chomwan.

Indigo-dyed thread drying at Bhukram. (Courtesy of Bhukram)

This article originally appeared in the March/May 2025 print issue of DestinAsian magazine (“Uncommon Threads”).

How Sakon Nakhon Weavers are Spinning Threads into the Future

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