We did a collaboration with this big association called Sumano
that supports women in Morocco for this part of the show.
We would like to make with them also another iconic piece
from the history of Dior; the opera coat.
Since this is the very first collaboration for Sumano and for these women,
it is important to understand and recognize
that they have never worked for anyone ever before.
They made their bridal veils for wedding ceremonies,
but there has never been any external interest from anyone outside.
So it’s a first for everyone involved.
Here they are going to use a method called ‘reserve dyeing’.
The fabric panels which are quite large, are dyed in a color gradient.
They typically use colors like brown, raspberry red and orange.
These hues are derived from plants with staining properties
which all grow locally in the immediate environment.
Depending on the season they gather madder roots,
walnut bark, pomegranates husks and leaves from the pistacia lentiscus tree.
After the plants have been dried and ground the weavers prepare the fabric,
tying it up according the form they want the dyes to follow.
Then they mix the plant which gives the chosen color
with water in a large cooking pot
and dip the tied fabric into the mixture so that it soaks up the dye.
When the fabric has completely absorbed the dye it is removed,
rinsed and hung out to dry on clothes lines at one of the homes
until it is ready to be dyed the next color.
The house of Dior asked us to work on an opera coat,
so we called on the weavers to assist us with our second collaboration.
By car they live 5 hours from Agadir.
It’s an enclave situated in the Lesser Atlas mountain range
and until the early 2000s
it was only accessible by foot or by donkey.
At the start of the day we meet to chat about our day to day problems.
Here there’s not much else to do apart working with wool.
Our lives revolve entirely around the production of wool.
Gathering wool. Washing wool. Weaving wool.
First you have to wash the wool thoroughly, then sort it and spin it.
I am in the middle of weaving an Adrar shawl.
Wool thread that is too fine is called IDE
and the others are called ADJRAD.
We make patterns with cotton.
My name is Rabia and I am president of the cooperative,
Here we work only with wool
because there is no agriculture in this village.
Even the children want to work with the wool,
because here, if there were no wool, there would be no work.
Now there are more ways to improve the cooperative.
There you go!
Particular to this village
is the henna method by which they dye the fabric.
The henna comes from a henna paste
which is in part a blend of spring water and lemon (juice).
The more layers added the darker the color.
For the opera coat designed by Maria Grazia
they used exactly this method by applying it to large panels of wool.
At Sumano we hope that this exposure brings attention and recognition
to our craftsmanship because for the moment
there is no recognition on a national or international scale.
The idea is that there should be continued production for these women
and a continued source of revenue to support them and their families.
They’re saying that, before,
wool wasn’t something they necessarily considered.
Now wool is amazing! They respect it.