Academic expertise merges with community engagement to turn Khon Kaen’s traditional weaving wisdom into contemporary commercial products.
The Faculty of Architecture at Khon Kaen University (KKU), through its Textile and Fashion Design Programme within the Department of Design, is integrating teaching, academic service, and community development. By transferring fashion and textile product design knowledge to local weaving groups across Khon Kaen Province, the initiative connects traditional wisdom with contemporary design processes, broadening product ranges and helping communities better meet modern market demand.
The initiative began on 27 August 2026 with a training workshop entitled “Local Fabric Apparel and Accessory Design Under a Brand: A Case Study of Khiri Meng Cotton Weaving Group, Ban Nong Ya Plong, Khon Kaen Province”. Integrated into the Fashion Design Process and Home Textile and Fashion Accessory Design courses, the workshop allowed students to learn directly from real community challenges while the weavers received training in core concepts of apparel design, accessory development, and brand strategy. Dr Kesinee Srisongmuang, Asst. Prof. Dr Warin Boonyaputtipong, and Asst. Prof. Chanasda Chullasatiana led the training.
Building on this first session, faculty members and staff visited the Ban Don Chang Weaving Group in Mueang Khon Kaen District on 30 September 2026 to run a practical workshop linked to the Contemporary Textile Weaving course. The sessions covered colour fundamentals, textile composition, design documentation, order specifications, sales portfolio management, weaving planning, and techniques for producing diverse colourways from a single warp setup. These systematic methods equip the community to refine its production processes and strengthen its product design capabilities.
Faculty members and students will now analyse the data gathered from field research and knowledge exchanges with both weaving communities – data that highlights the distinctive identity, techniques, and potential of each community’s textiles. These insights will form the basis for conceptualising new apparel and accessory lines before prototyping begins.
The resulting designs will then go through pattern and prototype development to create production-ready samples, which will be showcased and handed over to the communities for future use. This community development initiative is supported in Fiscal Year 2026 by Thai Beverage Public Company Limited, an external partner committed to promoting and sustaining local Thai wisdom.
