Dulong and Dong textiles stand out at London Craft Week

On the May 7 cover of the Financial Times, a British newspaper, weaver He Xiumei from the Dulong ethnic group in Southwest China’s Yunnan province sports the rainbow-colored traditional clothing of her group, beaming and holding a bundle of hand-woven carpets.

The paper was covering the ninth London Craft Week, held from May 8 to 14, and an exhibition at Fabric X featuring items such as scarves, handbags, and eye masks made from textiles by Dulong weavers and those from the Dong ethnic group in Southwest China’s Guizhou province.

The exhibition was presented by naze naze studio, founded in 2020 by ZUCZUG, a sustainability-centered fashion brand based in Shanghai. In 2015, the brand initiated the Dulong project with the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation.

By working with local female weavers from the Dulong River Valley, the studio blends traditional craftsmanship with contemporary tastes and increases the income of the weavers.

So far the Dulong project has been hosted in six installments, attracting a total of 38 weavers of various ethnic minority groups including Dulong, Dong, Naxi and Wa. All earnings from textile goods sales have been used to compensate weavers and support the project’s sustainable growth.

Founded by Guy Salter in 2015, London Craft Week is a creative platform that brings hundreds of established and emerging makers, designers, brands and galleries together from around the world. During this year’s event, exhibitions, workshops and lectures were held across the British capital, attracting nearly 120,000 visitors.