Why it belongs in ORBIS
Opened in December 2000 facing Hanoi's Temple of Literature, Indigo Store is a fair-trade shop employing around 120 producers, including disabled artisans and members of seven ethnic minority groups. It sells handmade indigo textiles and offers free custom tailoring plus indigo-dyeing classes.
Indigo Store opened in December 2000 directly opposite Hanoi's Temple of Literature, positioning itself from the outset as an organic and fair-trade outlet rather than a standard tourist souvenir shop. The store employs roughly 120 producers, deliberately including disabled workers and artisans from more than seven different ethnic minority communities across Vietnam.
Its stated purpose is preserving and promoting the traditional costume culture and handicraft techniques of those communities, translated into clothing — shirts, skirts, pants and jackets — plus scarves, bags, jewelry and home textiles like bedspreads, made from natural materials including linen, cotton and hemp. Custom tailoring is offered at no extra charge and is frequently completed quickly, a detail repeatedly noted by visitors.
The shop also runs an indigo-dyeing class on-site, giving visitors a hands-on introduction to the traditional Vietnamese indigo-dyeing process rather than only a retail experience.