She began extracting the fibre found in the stems to make "lotus silk", an exclusive fabric highly sought by fashion designers. Farmers often toil for hours to clear lotus paddies of rotting stems, which ruin the soil and bring unwanted insects. Dressed head-to-toe in brown silk and wearing a pearl necklace -- the same outfit she dons as she picks through the lotus paddies -- Thuan describes her work. While a regular silk scarf might go for $20, even a smaller lotus version -- popular with pre-coronavirus tourists -- fetches more than 10 times that. Although lotus silk is made in a handful of countries -- including Myanmar and Cambodia -- Thuan is seen as an innovator in Vietnam.

Source: Bangkok Post August 28, 2020 02:03 UTC