DoiTung has transformed many opium growers into proud and skillful artisans, illicit earnings into legitimate and secure livelihoods, as well as denuded mountains into abundant forests. DoiTung’s collections pay tribute to the spirit of ethnicity through its design inspired by tribal outfits, but adapted to the contemporary urban lifestyle. The skilled local artisans are involved in every stage of the production process—from spinning, dyeing, and weaving to cutting, and sewing. The production provides the villagers with a sustainable livelihood. Each step is truly a labor of love, intense, time-consuming, and can be termed “Slow Fashion” in contrast with the more fast-paced image of production-to-shelf of most ready-to-wear.
The DoiTung brand is a social enterprise under the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage. For several decades, DoiTung has provided a sustainable livelihood to ethnic hill tribes who once had no option but to rely on illicit crop cultivation and trafficking. Today, it is a flourishing hub of serious craft and skills where hill tribe ethnicity is at the very heart of the enterprise, helping to preserve the cultural heritage and provide a sustainable livelihood for tribal villagers.
