Short Knit Cotton Poncho in Onyx from Thailand, "Charming Knit in Onyx"

"Hello! We are Ying and Joy, co-founders of a small clothing workshop in Chiang Mai. We create woven, knitted, hand-embroidered, and dyed garments. We worked for a foreign clothing brand for over 10 years, then we decided to start our own business because the brand had to move the factory to another country.

"We were born and raised in Chiang Mai. We studied and worked here and were friends since working together at a clothing company. We gained a lot of experience in the clothing industry from that company. We appreciated and enjoyed it.

"Our new chapter began with an unexpected change, but we turned crisis into opportunity in order to build our new home where our friends and family could live together. After the company closed, a group of women with different skills in our old factory had to return to their homes located in different parts of Chiang Mai. Some of them went back to longan farming. Most of them were over 40, so it was hard to find other garment factories to work in. Our project was the best way to help them. We used our contacts from our old company and started to develop our own pieces. Ying comes up with designs and marketing strategies. Joy performs quality control, exports, and contacts the leader of each women's group.

"We're proud that we can use our experience in this business to offer work and income for over 50 people. We want to expand this business and have our own factory, because this group of craftspeople still need income. We can only provide work for 30% of them and our pieces don't fit the target market of Thailand, so foreign and online markets are the best platforms to do business.

"Sometimes, we feel pressure from not having enough customers, and our team keeps asking for work, but we still have hope and belief in ourselves. We never tire of looking for new markets and new customers. It's challenging us and giving us new information at the same time. We want to show the world that our Thai artisans are skilled.

"Our designs are inspired by love, nature, positive thoughts, happiness, our experiences, love, and passion. We hope you will love them."