MRS. SAM SONN
BORN IN 1956 IN KAMPOT, LIVES IN KANAGAWA

Sam Sonn’s family were weavers. They made traditional skirts, scarfs and mosquito nets near Wat Krangkuoy in Kampot province. Back then, people did not sell those products much because everyone wove their own stuff at home. Sometimes people in the village borrowed each other’s stuff when there were weddings. She can also weave.

In the old days, they had to catch butterflies in the village forest and put them on white cloth for them to hatch eggs which became silkworms. They were then transferred to wicker baskets with fresh mulberry leaves for feeding. The mature silkworm would be placed on dead Sangkae branches where it would spin its cocoon. The cocoons would then be boiled and reeled into thread by hand. The thread would then be sundried and dyed. This traditional silk skirt (Hol) was woven by her mother in Kampot province. The lace blouse was tailored by Sam Sonn herself when she first arrived in Japan.