This Tai Neua textile is a blue ‘phaa biang’ (long shoulder cloth) that combines white and other colourful supplementary weft silk yarns onto an indigo-blue woven cotton ground. Northeastern Laos, which includes Sam Neua (Houaphan Province) is known for intricate weavings with supplementary weft (sometimes called ‘weft brocade’) designs that use raw home-grown silk, cotton and natural dyes. The intricate design weaving of phaa biang indicates its use on special occasions such as weddings.
