Small Shoulder Bag with Wool Pile · CHARU × Thathaly

Small shoulder bag in wool: the body is knitted in a dark brown and natural white herringbone, the flap in a dense pile of reddish-brown loops with light flecks. The wool-wrapped strap turns into a braided band with fringes at the side; inside, the bag is lined with striped linen.

Its shape draws on the bags in which tsampa and belongings were carried on the Tibetan plateau, often made of yak hide. The flap is worked in a traditional Tibetan pile technique that Thathaly calls “buzu”, once used for warm clothing and rarely seen today.

The flap closes with a wooden toggle. As each piece is made by hand, measurements may vary by a few centimetres.

Thathaly is a label of women from Yulshül in Kham, in the east of the Tibetan plateau, close to the source region of the Drichu, Dzachu and Machu rivers. Its aim is to preserve Tibetan craft and to enable the women to earn a living in their rural homeland. Each bag is knitted by hand by local women.

CHARU connects designers with craft cooperatives in the Tibetan cultural sphere, developing products that bring traditional techniques into everyday life.

Width 17 cm · Height 25 cm · Strap length 132 cm · 80% sheep wool, 20% nylon · Lining 100% linen · Wooden toggle · Hand-knitted in Yulshül, Kham