cambodia intro

Cambodia is a lush tropical kingdom. But though all looks idyllic, the country is still in trauma following the brief but bloody reign of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970's. Large areas of land are still sown with countless land mines and street children wander the streets of the capital.

However, much is being done to help the disadvantaged, and many of the handicapped and dispossessed now work with projects set up to revive the nation's traditional handcrafts. Cambodia is rich in natural resources, promoting the current revival in hand-woven silk and cotton, silverwork and wood-carving.

Coral Seed is bringing from Cambodia into Europe a new selection of fashion accessories, fairly-traded and hand-generated; included are bags in silk and cotton, totes in up-cycled rice-sacks, shoulder bags in up-cycled cement-sacks and silk wallets and silk scarves subtly tinted with vegetable dyes.

Coral Seed's designer works with carefully-selected social enterprises, dedicated to empowering their producers and to raising their living standards; thus, the artisans engaged on our products are likely to have been rescued from a life made untenable through land-mine accidents, through polio, through trafficking, or through inner-city poverty. Whatever their backgrounds, careful training has ensured a rosier future, and secure livelihoods, for producers now expert in their chosen fields.

Scarves

Our silk scarves are hand-woven in beautiful glowing colours or subtly tinted with vegetable dyes: luxurious and elegant,but eco-friendly.