Lotus SilkLotus Silk & Boutique was established in 2003 with the aim to design contemporary and unique clothing, scarf & shawl, Bag & Purse, fashion accessories and home ware. Products are all handmade with silk and/or cotton. “Lotus Silk” brand represent luxurious designs with eco friendly design concept.

Lotus Silk has a strong social orientation. The company stands for equity and social responsibility. Our mission is to promote Cambodian products with innovative designs, value Cambodian women’s work who are head of household such as windows, disable, jobless. In this objective we train and offer employment to women in order to help them build a sustainable livelihood.

Our productsOur silk products are mainly the contemporary fashionable scarves, shawls, scrunchies, Fashion jewelleries, some home stuffs. All the products follow the brand’s trendy and fashionable design. The scarves and the hair accessories are elegant and colorful; the bags are made out of rich vintage Japanese textiles. Lotus Silk’s collection is unique and well finished with the passion for detail.

Our productsWe do tailored dresses for walk in buyers that were conceptualized by using “vintage” fabrics. Our production capacity is small at this point, as we are just starting to get exposed on exports.

Most of walk-in buyers in our shop are also the export buyers asking us to send their orders to their respective countries.

That is why we realized our export potentials through our walk-in buyers.

Custom Design

A BEND IN THE RIVERPerformed by Khmer Arts Ensemble

• Business– How to make a practical business projection plan

• Products– Increase of new product lines and designs– Structured Collection and design Plans

• People– Need access to different weavers– Staff Sales Capacity Development

• Raw Materials– We need access to different accessory materials to

do our collections– Suppliers of Silk Fabrics

• Technical Assistance– Identification of Business identity – Business meetings with real buyers– Understanding International Quality Standard– Understanding laboratory testing– Linkage and information to fashion trend– Find New Buyers

Our Challenges• Production

– Dyeing facilities (in-house) for sampling and small orders.

– Weaving – sample maker (in-house ) production.

– Standardization of sizes / how to make product specification

– Need to know how to make silk soft.– Need a side by side mentor to help us with

the our transaction with buyers, as different situation may arise. We need somebody we can ask what to do next.

• Marketing– Communication to buyers oral and written;

and strategies in communicating with buyers– How to make catalog and marketing

materials– More participation on Trade Show– Linkage to buyers : international and local

markets – How to strengthen our business identity

Business :Structured Export PlanBefore we just “wished” to get

structured. I have experiences with all the project planning and also received some other training from other Organizations but still, we can not make our own business Plan as I do not have some direct support or consultant or mentor . All the things we want are just all in our mind or in a scratch of paper and lose it after a while.

Now, with the help of ITC, we were given more focused and "one on one” mentorship about our export plans. We were asked to review and recall our historical performance, and from there, we derived our practical projections .

And from there, we enumerated “What are the things we need to do to meet our target “ and “How are we going to do it”, and “ what are the supports we need to meet it”, and put it in a document file.Then, the cycle monitoring and evaluation are applied and recorded the lessons learned and improve for the better!!!

Products: Increase of Product Designs

Through ITC support, a Brand Book and Swatch Book was develop to enable us gear our collections towards our identity.To enable us compete, we should have our own concept of product and own color combination so buyer cannot just find our combination and concept from other stores.The brand book and watch book are now are design guide that we are following.

Products: Increase of Product Designs

Based on the brand book to identify and push our product and business identities as supported by ITC, there are five concepts were we can develop our new ranges and where we can best fit in ; (1) Lotus Symbol (2) Aquatic Hues (3) Vintage Inspiration (4) Fresh and Trendy Style (5) Cambodian Circa 1960s.

Products: Increase of Product Designs

And the product ranges that would fit into the five concept designs mentioned on the previous pages are as follows;(1) Clutch bags /

evening bags(2) Sewn scarves(3) Head band(4) Silk jewelleries

Products: Increase of Product Designs

On top of the collection book and swatch book because of the exposure of our products from the fair sponsored by ITC, we met some buyers who added changes to our existing scarves and made It more interesting and now they are ordering.

Showroom Renovation

Before NOW

Access to Weavers

We do have plans in coming up with one in-house weaving loom for our shop, to do the samples for us. Once samples are done, this will be displayed in the shop and / or send to the buyer to get an order.

Once we get the orders from the sample, we would like to link our production to work with group of weavers in the villages who has the capacity , specialty and skills in producing our product.

We would like to meet weavers any time soon so we can study and assess our potential to work in volume requirement.

We also would like to have a simple dyeing facilities in my shop..so we can quickly dye samples by ourselves, work on the coulor formula,…. Before sending to the producers.

Access to Raw Materials

I am aware that the team had a very productive trip in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi about this.

I was in Australia for presenting in a conference of my social project (Flotating Garden) of during those days and I missed the most important information.

However, Since most of the materials I will need is available in Ho Chi Minh, and I have the references, I can schedule myself anytime to get the raw materials I need if not available here in Cambodia.

Technical Assistance• I was able to attend to marketing and promotion workshop training of ITC,

the Design , Branding Concept to which I am getting clearer and clearer with my product and business identity now.

• My color combinations are specific and I only display products that fits into my concept. But this likewise we are also open for other buyer’s own design as they may suggest.

• The follow up and monitoring also helps us, to push ourselves to comply and meet our export plan.

• More trade shows and “buyers connection” are also playing a big important role to enable us meet our target. We have join the Angkor Silk Fair and we wish to join other trade in other country.

• And with regards to Laboratory requirements, with the assistance of ITC mentorship, I was able to get connected directly to Intertek office and understand the laboratory requirement of the buyer and the AZO free dye and its testing cost.

Production• I had the chance to briefly requested for an advise on how make our

scarves soft and through ITC mentorship program, I was able to get a quick advise on how to make our scarves soft to which we are now doing with all of our silk products.

• And also, I was given an advise on the quick technique in making a one time “free art style” spray painted scarf , where it looked like an deep dye or tie dye scarf. We already test out and sell some sample in the shop.

• We need more techniques as we proceed with our new samples and we still need some help to have an in-house dyeing (simple) facilities in our product development workshop, and like wise Katra weaving for my in house loom which I will be putting in my workshop nearly soon.

Before the project started, my marketing tools are only website, Business Card and leaflet, but we felt it is not good enough and we need something that will emphasize what we are selling.Through ITC we were given the privilege to spot on our identity, to be different from others. Identity can be defined based on your color combination and or your concept design.

Marketing Materials

BEFORE

NOW

We appreciate the approach we are getting as we were given first the idea, then a support on how to do it, and then, show us how to do it..then later challenge us to do it on own.

I am proud that the output I am getting from this support is making us sustainable with our own business set up in the future… and can be apply to any type of business that we will be going into or expand.

Vannary SanOwner/DesignerLotus Silk & Boutique