Vanntha Ngorn Empowers Cambodian Women Weavers through Color Silk

Color Silk Cambodia has been training women and girls in the art of weaving in Siem Reap province, providing them with the skills to earn a living through this craft and helping them expand their communities’ economy.

Vanntha Ngorn, the founder of Color Silk. (Photo from Vanntha Ngorn's Facebook)

The Founder’s Journey

Vanntha Ngorn grew up in Takeo Province, Cambodia, as the daughter of one of the diminishing number of artisan weavers. Drawing on her unique knowledge and skills, Vanntha’s mother practiced the ancient craft of silk weaving to generate a livelihood. However, with the weaving industry severely diminished following the Khmer Rouge Regime, Vanntha’s mother saw a lack of opportunities available for Vanntha in the village and worked hard to support a better future for her daughter.

After gaining her Master’s in Business Administration, Vanntha found purpose in helping women weavers like her mother secure their own brighter future. Embracing the challenge of rebuilding Cambodia’s silk weaving industry, she returned to her village and, in 2009, founded her social enterprise, Color Silk. Today, with the help of Maybank Foundation and the Maybank Silk Weaving Training Centre, Color Silk has gone on to support the rejuvenation of the entire silk weaving value chain in Cambodia’s Takeo Province.

Establishing Color Silk

Color Silk’s training programs teach women to weave, raise silkworms, and plant mulberry trees, which are essential for silk production. Funded by Maybank, the program provides 5-month training sessions, after which trainees receive the necessary equipment to continue their craft, contributing to their families' income and preserving cultural heritage.

In 2019, the Maybank Women Eco-Weavers programme in Cambodia trained 13 newly recruited women silk weavers. These women underwent 5 months of instruction and education starting in July at a temporary facility in Preah Dak Commune, before graduating at a property acquired by Ms. Vanntha Ngorn of Color Silk.

The project has trained around 480 weavers, who work from home as micro-entrepreneurs, earning an average income of 200 USD per month. Additionally, the organization collaborates with 300 farmers to grow mulberry trees, enhancing local sericulture and reducing dependency on imports.

Market Reach and Showroom

Color Silk products, including yardage, sarongs, scarves, bags, and clothes, are mainly exported to Europe, Japan, the US, and Singapore. A portion of the products is also sold to tourists in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. The showroom in Banteay Srei district, Siem Reap province, attracts 150 to 200 foreign customers and 50 to 100 Cambodian customers per month.

Community Impact and Expansion

Color Silk’s training programs not only impart weaving skills but also encompass raising silkworms and planting mulberry trees, providing a comprehensive approach to silk production. By offering free seeds and training to farmers, the organization ensures a steady supply of mulberry leaves for silkworms, further integrating the local community into the production process. This initiative has empowered over 300 families, allowing them to generate additional income and contribute to the local economy.

Recognitions and Achievements

Ngorn Vanntha has been honored by the YouthActionNet® Global Fellowship and the International Youth Foundation-Starbucks Shared Planet Youth Action Grant. Color Silk also received national recognition at the Cambodian Young Entrepreneur Awards 2015. The company’s innovative business model has been studied and cited in various publications, highlighting its contributions to poverty reduction and the empowerment of rural women.

Historical Context and Women's Entrepreneurship

Until the 1960s in Cambodia, silk weaving was an ancestral textile practice structured as a cottage industry almost exclusively run by women in rural areas and destined for domestic consumption. With the civil war in 1970 and the establishment of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1975, local silk production nearly vanished. Since the country’s pacification process and general elections in 1993, the silk sector has reopened to foreign investments, reshaped under the leadership of local NGOs and foreign-owned craft companies.

This chapter examines the history of Cambodian initiatives owned by women in the post-conflict era. It explores a range of entrepreneurial projects, including the social enterprise Color Silk, a silk craft model positioned between foreign sponsors and site-specific community development. Through the study of the company owners’ history, their geographic locations, typologies of handcrafted goods, and their discourses, the Cambodian silk sector is treated as a hub made up of policymakers, organizations, and materials, in which female craft entrepreneurs negotiate with issues of leadership, empowerment, and dependence on international donors and clientele. Despite efforts towards social welfare and education, female weavers remain simultaneously the main beneficiaries and workforce of these silk initiatives, with limited opportunities to gain more autonomy and agency within the sector.

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