OUR ATELIER


NORLHA'S INNOVATIVE APPROACH


Norlha is the Tibetan Plateau’s first yak khullu atelier. We opened our doors in 2007 in Ritoma Village, a nomad settlement comprising 230 families, 6000 yaks and 20,000 sheep. We now employ 130 people, all former nomads or members of nomad families, who have spun, woven and felted for generations. Still, creating a modern, marketable product required thinking and innovation as the local tools, drop spindles and blackstrap looms, were not conducive to commercially viable production. We innovated by using outside technology, importing charkhas and flying shuttle looms from India and Nepal, both ideal for a village based industry. For felting, we combined modern technology and the traditional knowledge and techniques of the local women.


8

ARTISANS FOR EVERY SCARF

It takes eight different skilled artisans to make a single Norlha scarf  

100

DAYS

Norlha's most intricate piece takes over 100 days for a single artisan to complete

40,000+

TRAINING HOURS

Since its founding in '07, Norlha has spent 40,000+ hours training local nomads in vocational, management & textile skills

$5.8M

ON LOCAL SALARIES

Since its founding Norlha has provided over $4M USD in local salaries

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THE SACRED YAK


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OUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT


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COLOURS OF KHULLU


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CULTURAL IMPACT


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