CAMBODIA – Adapting Khmer Seung Fabric to Today’s Needs
By: Zul Rorvy Cambodianess February 22, 2025
Outfits made from seung fabric. Photo by SeungKhmer Design
SIEM REAP — For nearly a decade, Samin Pheakdey, has been finding ways to build the popularity of “seung,” a type of Cambodian traditional textile that can be used to make clothes for formal events as well as for daily activities.
As is often the case when attempting to draw the attention of today’s people to a traditional good, this has not proven easy for this fashion designer. Still, Pheakdey has managed to make seung clothes that appeal to Cambodians as well as foreigners.
Enthusiastic about this traditional fabric, she launched her “SeungKhmer Design” business in Siem Reap province in 2016. As she explained during an interview, she had seen the lack of popularity of this fabric among the younger generations of Cambodians. Unlike the traditional “hol” silk that calls for higher prices in clothes, seung is seen more or less as the “underdog” in the context of traditional fabric.
Seung is a cotton fabric with a small touch of silk, which can be quite indiscernible for the untrained eye, and may be adorned with a pattern in the lower portion of a piece of clothing made with this fabric.
When she embarked on this journey, Pheakdey began by visiting traditional weavers living especially in the region of Koh Oknha Tei, and Koh Dach in Kandal province where senior village women still maintain this weaving tradition both to earn a living and out of love for this trade, she said.
“When I was there in 2016, the atmosphere seemed so calm,” Pheakdey said. “Although they still make seung, the demand tends to be seasonal, mainly before traditional occasions. When demand dries up during certain months, they ‘close’ their looms temporarily.”
Because of the lack of incentives, few people in the younger generations wish to pursue this work as did their mothers or grandmothers, she said. Seeing this, Pheakdey sought out ways to make the demand for seung fabric more consistent, she said.
As Pheakdey explained, this fabric is usually used to make long skirts worn by Cambodian women during traditional occasions or bought as gifts by foreign consumers. This limited scope of use has not contributed to making seung popular among the general public, she said.
To make this fabric more fashionable and used for a larger range of clothes, Pheakdey has designed seung clothes such as dresses, purses, and shirts in today’s styles.
“Some foreigners love the way seung looks, but they are not always sure when to wear [seung clothes] appropriately,” Pheakdey said. “As seung can be a bit thick, we try to make the fabric more comfortable for them to wear in our climate.”
When designing seung clothes, it takes into consideration that people wearing them in Siem Reap may visit temples and spend time in the jungle or the countryside, which can be energy intensive especially during the dry season. Fashionable clothes should be attractive but also practical, enabling sweat absorption, heat dissipation, and protection from direct sunlight.
Over the last few years, Pheakdey said she has noticed an increase in seung popularity among the younger Cambodian people. As for foreign customers, they usually are excited by the fact that the clothes they have purchased are weaved, designed and made by Cambodian people. “It provides them with good memories when they visit our country.”
For this entrepreneur, the value of seung goes beyond money: It is also about tradition, heritage, legacy, patience, and perseverance, she stressed.
“Seung can be at times [hard to obtain] as it is manually weaved by villagers,” Pheakdey added. “Sometimes, a sheet of seung fabric can be used for only a few items. So, we have to make the best use of what we have.”
https://cambodianess.com/article/adapting-khmer-seung-fabric-to-todays-needs
SOURCE: Cambodianess, Cambodia February 22, 2025
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