top of page
Sorazora-family-2024-Iriomote

Hello

HELLO

Welcome and many thanks for visiting our website. At Sorazora, we specialize in sustainable natural fiber clothing and fabric. We are a family-owned business, originating in Japan in 2003, and based in the UK since 2009. We believe in creating beautiful, timeless pieces that are kind to us all and our planet. We hope you enjoy our products as much as we do.
 

Hiromi Kono & Nathan Schreiber

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

Hello

ABOUT

SORAZORA

WE ARE...
Based in South Devon, U.K., you can find us at our regular stall in Totnes market on Fridays and Saturdays. We also venture up to Glastonbury market every Tuesday and can often be found at Plymouth’s Royal William Yard on the first Sunday of the month. We still attend a few festivals during the summer months. We, Nathan and Hiromi, are juggling the entire business of local markets and an online store around being busy parents to two boys.

SORAZORA?
SORA means SKY in Japanese, and ZORA is just transformed from SORA.
A simple translation of SORAZORA is SKYSKY. However, there is a way in Japanese to imply plural or express various by repeating the same word. For example, "YAMA YAMA", yama means mountain, and repeating the word suggests there are more than one mountain or different types of mountains.
Although the word SORA is not used in this manner by Japanese, "SORAZORA" is our way to suggest that nature always gives us a great variety of colours, shapes and motions, providing unlimited moments like the sky.


NEPAL
Every year, you could have found us busy running around in Nepal for our production during the winter months, until the pandemic came along. Although we haven't been back there since 2020, we had built up close relationships over more than a decade. This has enabled our working relationships to continue through communicating remotely. This new easier going production pace spread throughout the year works well for everyone involved.
We have greatly enjoyed sourcing the raw fibres and materials and working directly with dyers, weavers, knitters, pattern cutters, carvers, paper makers and many more craftspeople mainly in Nepal, but also Japan. We wish to promote all the traditional crafts and continue supporting Nepalese artisans without whom, Sorazora would not be possible. Ethical, sustainable and fair trade is essential for the livelihoods of all those involved in helping Sorazora bring designs to life.

FIBRE

We have always loved natural fibres, with their textures and amazing range of craft uses. Renewable resources make the most sense to us as we want these crafts to be around for all the generations to come. When a natural fibre product reaches the end of its working life, it can usually be composted, which gives it another life. What better way to treat something that served you well in some way. It is not only for the ethos of organic and sustainable production, but also a passion for the timeless beauty of products that continue to be made the way they always have been.
 

The use of natural fibres has no impact on the environment as long as they are both a sustainable resource and totally biodegradable. We love all natural fibres, both cellulose and protein, and appreciate each one for their different characteristics.

Those listed below are the fibres we regularly use.



HIMALAYAN HEMP & NETTLE

Two fibres we use time and time again are hemp and nettle. We are fortunate to be able to source these two fibres in Nepal where they are harvested, retted, handspun and handwoven in the same way that it has always been done. The processes used to turn these raw fibres into a fabric require no synthetic chemicals which keeps them truly organic and removes any risk from the craftspeople and end users.

 

Giant Himalayan Nettle, or ‘Allo’ as it is called in Nepalese, can grow to a height of three metres and produces very long fibres between the stem’s bark and its wooden core. When the bark is stripped from the core, the fibres are removed with it. The bark is then slowly cooked over a fire in an alkaline solution of water and wood ash to separate the fibres. It is not a process without effort as these fibres require a lot of work to be readied for the drop spindle. This process is also used to turn the hemp fibres into a yarn that’s destined for woven fabrics or twines and ropes.

Both hemp and nettle are robust fibres with their own unique shades, but generally the hemp fibre is stronger and the nettle softer.

We also regularly use New Zealand WOOL that’s imported raw and spun in Nepal, Nepalese Mulberry SILK produced by local Nepalese ladies cooperative, Chinese or Indian LINEN and COTTON.

TAILORED CLOTHING
The fabric used for many of our garments is handwoven on a handloom at the small workshop in Lubhu, Kathmandu. Many of the yarns for these fabrics are produced in China as Nepal lacks the facilities to produce the fine yarns. Our fabrics woven to order in Lubhu are yarn dyed prior to weaving within the same workshop.

DYES

We love the beauty of all natural shades and all natural dyes’ earthy colours as well as the history of natural dyes, which goes all the way back to the earliest forms of colour. It’s an international history shared by all.

Natural dyes are a colourant obtained from any natural source and a great place to find them can be right in your own back yard!
Roots, bark, nuts, leaves and flowers are just a few common sources of colour. Most natural dyes are usually a plant extract for colour and a mineral mordant to set the dye or adjust colour. Most of the extracts we use at Sorazora are native to Nepal and usually sourced from natural medicine shops, where they’re mostly sold for their medicinal qualities.

Now largely discarded as being uneconomicaly viable by most, we aim to help provide this timeless alternative to modern synthetics. For us, synthetic dyes are a symptom of mass production and we have a far greater connection with and appreciation for the traditional methods.

In keeping with both the tradition and the environment, we’ll continue to choose natural dyes for natural fibres. We just love that the colours enhance with age and mellow into increasing beauty. This great craft must be introduced to the next generation to protect ancient dye techniques from becoming just a subject in a history book. 

VARIATIONS

Almost all of our products and garments are handmade and/or tailored in Nepal by local craftspeople. Due to the handmade nature of our products, slight variations can occur with regard to sizing and natural dye colours. Nepalese hemp/nettle fabrics and twines are produced in various villages often with many craftspeople in any single village, this commonly leads to tone and shade variations. It is in these differences that we find natural beauty and appreciate the uniqueness of handcrafts.

Please also be aware that due to screen colour variations, colours of products may vary slightly from what you see on the screen.

CARE

We would advise that our garments be hand washed or an appropriate delicate wash by machine. Thereafter, a 30ºC machine wash with like colours is generally not a problem. For delicate knits and weaves, we recommend using a washing net to protect the garment from catching during a machine wash or simply hand wash if you are unsure. Strong alkaline detergents will also affect the colour of dyes so a neutral detergent should be used, a soap for delicate fabric like silk & wool are ideal for anything natural dyed, as are soapnuts.

To avoid excessive fading, it is not recommended to leave our naturally dyed garments in direct sunlight for long periods of time (eg. a washing line). Strong acidic or alkaline substances, such as lemon juice, will discolour dyed fabric.

Finally, if ironing, we recommend using a steam iron. Our garments should not be bleached or dry-cleaned. Gradual fading is unavoidable over time, but if treated with respect, all of our materials will provide you with beauty and colour for years to come.

bottom of page