Love brocade with Ava

Ava's love for the people, the mountainous region where the Co Tu ethnic group lives, and the unique way they weave their brocade fabrics drew her to this land.

Ava was born in 1972 in Antwerp and is of Belgian nationality. In 2003, Ava developed her career and became a renowned high- fashion designer, expanding her market from Antwerp to many parts of the world with her AVANA brand.

Inspired by the Katu woman

Ava shared that she came to Vietnam in 2005 and immediately fell in love with this beautiful country. After many trips back and forth, in 2010, she decided to settle in Hoi An and open a fashion store with the brand AVANA.

In early 2012, through her work as a project consultant for the International Labour Organization (ILO), Ava had the opportunity to learn about brocade weaving from a group of Co Tu women living in Dhroong village, Ta Lu commune, Dong Giang district. Here, girls as young as 7 or 8 years old are taught brocade weaving by their grandmothers, mothers, and older sisters.

The Yaya Cotu Cooperative was established in early 2013. It was the first cooperative to protect its brand, increase product competitiveness, and aim to share benefits with the community. In 2014, Quang Nam province registered the trademark "Cotu Yaya Dhroong" for six product groups produced by the cooperative, and it was granted recognition by the Intellectual Property Office ( Ministry of Science and Technology ).

Designer Ava collaborated with Co Tu ethnic brocade weavers on a design.

Ava's extensive experience in hand-weaving from her time living in the West helped her discover the beauty of the Co Tu people's brocade. Ava says that the Co Tu artisans themselves are wonderful and incredibly creative. She senses in them a spirit of solidarity. The women are very proud of each other's products.

They welcomed Ava warmly and kindly. She came to the village to work with another designer named Nele Block, from Belgium. “We found inspiration from the women here. So we decided to choose this village to start a collaborative project,” Ava said.

In Ava's eyes, "the Co Tu people weave fabric with their whole bodies, the colors and patterns changing according to their whim, especially the beads, which are woven into the fabric." For Ava, all the women here are "designers." And "it would be a shame if these fine fabrics, containing so many unique cultural features, were not known to more people." So Ava began her journey to find a market for Co Tu brocade.

Brocade weaving

Ava collaborated with 18 artisans to diversify designs and build her brand. She made traditional brocade garments more elegant and simpler, while still preserving their unique character and making them accessible to a wider audience. Ava adjusted the sizes, color combinations, and beadwork techniques, resulting in the "Cotu yaya" collection.

Ava loves the mountainous region of Quang Nam .

On "Cotu yaya" products, the delicately attached beads demonstrate the need for high technology in traditional products, especially when targeting foreign customers.
Ava wanted a blend of European design with Co Tu brocade. Therefore, when creating these designs, she used brocade patterns as accents on items such as collars, sleeves, hems, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings throughout the silk garments.

Brocade and silk blend harmoniously in a single fashion product. Traditional and modern elements intertwine, inspiring Ava and vice versa. They continuously discuss and select the most suitable options.

Eva's Ya Ya Sarong design participated in Vietnam Design Week (2023).

Ava says that holding a handcrafted product, you should feel the effort, time, and ingenuity of the artisan who created it, and sense the culture it represents. Wanting to convey this special inspiration to customers, each of Ava's products is unique. Even with the same materials, they will combine different elements to create different designs.

Ava's philosophy is sustainable fashion. Sustainability is also reflected in her approach to working with local families to utilize local resources and materials, but with an outward-looking vision. This means helping people create sustainable livelihoods while preserving their indigenous culture and knowledge.

High-class fashion

Besides Avana, Ava also launched the brand Co'tu,re – a wordplay on Co Tu and haute couture (high fashion). Ava's designs blend Co Tu brocade with modern fashion sensibilities into a high-end fashion line, created from a shared vision with Belgian designer Nele de Block, who lives in Portugal. Their products are launched in various markets: Belgium, Vietnam, Japan, France, Italy, and more. Their collection is diverse, ranging from dresses, tops, pants, shoes, bags, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings.

Some of the decorative motifs in the Ya Ya Sarong collection designs are stylized representations of patterns, mimicking the Tang Tung Da Da dance of the Co Tu people in Quang Nam.

Ava shared her thoughts, saying that the traditional brocade weaving craft of the Co Tu people in Quang Nam has a future. As one of the most remarkable ethnic minorities in Vietnam, they have the ability to express themselves through their own handcrafted weaving. And this craft has an even greater chance of long-term survival when those involved in it participate in the community's economy.

The combination of Katu traditions and modern fashion has created a sustainable livelihood for Katu women in Dhrôồng village. Each woman earns approximately 400,000 to 500,000 VND per day. For products that sell well in the market, they also receive a share of the profits.

In early September this year, after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ava's group will resume work. Currently, they are focusing on producing a new collection. The Dhrong village has also reopened, and their weaving workshop and handicraft shop are being rebuilt. “The weaving group is still thriving. We have over three generations of weavers, and I believe the total number of weavers will increase to 40,” Ava said.

Last year (2023), during Vietnam Design Week, Ava collaborated with local artisans, designers, and artists to incorporate the Ya Ya imagery into Ava's latest collection. They launched the YaYa SaRong collection, a collaboration between Ava's designer, Kon Gauss, and a Co Tu brocade weaving artisan who participated in the competition. Their YaYa Sa Rong collection was among the top 25 out of 150 entries selected by the judging panel at Vietnam Design Week.

Also in mid-September, Ava will open a second small fashion production and retail space in Hoi An. This space will undoubtedly dedicate a large portion of its area to Co Tu brocade.

Source: https://baoquangnam.vn/yeu-tho-cam-cung-ava-3140970.html