Nepal
Himalayan Foothills, Nepal
Wild nettle, stripped, boiled and spun by hand into a rough, durable cloth long before cotton reached these slopes.
Allo grows wild on the hillsides and is harvested, not farmed — the fibre is stripped from the stalk, boiled in ash water, and spun by hand over weeks.
The resulting cloth is coarse, strong, and suited to a climate that gives handwoven cotton no mercy.
Traditional dress — Himalayan foothills
- Community
- Nettle-weaving hill communities
- Materials
- Allo (Himalayan nettle), Wool
- Techniques
- Hand spinning, Backstrap weaving