Norlha

HANDWOVEN ON THE TIBETAN PLATEAU

NORLHA was founded in 2007 by mother and daughter, Kim and Dechen Yeshi with a dedication to empower the local community through sustainable development.

From their atelier in Ritoma Village, which is a nomad settlement on the windswept grasslands of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, they work with local artisans to produce handcrafted clothing and homeware using the yak khullu. The inhabitants of the Tibetan Plateau live alongside heards of free-ranging yak. Yak are characterized by their long, shaggy hair, and they also grow a dense undercoat to protect them during the extreme winters. This incredible soft down, which in the Tibetan language is called khullu, is prized for its softness, durability and warmth. Yak khullu is the basis of Norlha. They seek out the softest khullu, naturally shed by the baby yaks at the beginning of their second summer. The khullu is cleaned before entering the atelier to be spun, woven and perhaps felted by the local artisans. The result is a luxurious textile with extraordinary insulating properties which retain the shape, resist pilling and will last long enough to be passed on to the next generation.