Textiles and Clothing of Viet Nam: A History

Việt Nam is the home of more than fifty ethnic minorities—such as the Chăm and Thái—many of which have distinctive clothing and weaving traditions linked to antiquity. The tight-fitting tunic called áo dài, widely recognized as a national symbol, has its roots in the country’s 2,000–year history of textiles. Beginning with silk production in the Bronze Age cultures of the Red River, this book covers textiles in Việt Nam—including bark-cloth, kapok and hemp—through the centuries of Chinese rule in the north, a number of independent feudal societies and the brief period of French colonial rule.