Van Phuc Silk Village: From traditional heritage to world-class craft village

Van Phuc Silk Village (Ha Dong district) is one of the oldest silk weaving villages, with a history spanning over 1,000 years.

The craft village has been shaped and renowned far and wide thanks to the high skill of its artisans and its long-standing weaving tradition.

Despite the many ups and downs of time, Van Phuc silk has retained its traditional beauty, and Van Phuc village has always been at the forefront of the silk weaving industry. The products here are loved for their durability and refined, elegant appearance.

Ms. Tran Thi Ngoc Lan, Vice President of the Van Phuc Silk Weaving Village Association, assessed: “Joining the network of world creative craft cities is both a great opportunity and a challenge for Van Phuc silk village, forcing production units to innovate, create, and improve quality to reach world-class standards. By participating in this network, Van Phuc silk village will have the opportunity to exchange and learn from the experiences of units around the world to further improve its products.”

"To meet this significant transformation, Van Phuc silk village needs a larger production scale and a showroom for characteristic products to promote, preserve, and develop the traditional and core values of this thousand-year-old craft village," Ms. Lan said.

The silk production process in Van Phuc village is basically done by hand, requiring carefulness and meticulousness from the artisans to ensure product quality.

Van Phuc boasts many types of silk, but the most famous is patterned silk. This type is made entirely from silkworm silk, harmonious, elegant, and provides warmth in winter and coolness in summer for the wearer.

What sets patterned silk apart is its weaving technique, which is entirely handcrafted and therefore requires highly skilled artisans.

9/14 Representing one of the families with generations of silk weaving in Van Phuc village, artisan Nguyen Thi Tam (owner of Trieu Van Mao silk production facility) shared: “We are happy and excited that our local silk products have reached the world stage. We have applied science and technology to some production stages to create many new designs to meet consumer needs and increase efficiency, saving labor.”

Ms. Van further shared that the village's production process still retains the typical details of Van Phuc brand silk, thereby preserving the essence of tradition while also developing and integrating with the global market.

Visiting and shopping at Van Phuc silk village, Ms. Phung Bich Diep (Tay Ho district) said: “I really like the silk products here because they have a traditional beauty that is rarely found elsewhere. Van Phuc silk products give users a comfortable feeling and are highly durable.”

"I hope that in the future, Van Phuc silk village will have more spaces to display new products as well as more professional and attractive tourism products to serve domestic and international tourists," Ms. Diep said.