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37-year-old, mature age to become a successful and mature man, but in Mac Nhu Nhan, people still see the humor and aspiration in his eyes when it comes. .. loofah. He said that perhaps it was a torn, poor thing with loofah, but in his eyes, it was a clean and perfect material for making fashion products that only in Vietnam. have.

20 years – a dream … loom

Casually meet him Nhan in an agricultural forum held by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ho Chi Minh City, we are quite surprised when he still only jeans, T-shirts and … stand counter show products The site is made of loofah for young people, though he is also a speaker sharing his experience of starting a business in the forum. He laughed and said: “Stand to meet the young people to get acquainted, not sliced ​​to the stage that say … trembling”. Say that, but when many young people question the durability of fashion products (shoes, bags, purses …) made of loofah, he answered very confident about his product. He said: “The durable in humans, can not compare these products with industrial raw materials for durability but certainly safe for health” …

As for his words, Nhan said that in addition to the shop displaying products in Ho Chi Minh City (District 12), he has shops in Hanoi (Dong Da district) and some provinces , big city is also ordering fashion products from the loom he designed.

He said his “loom career” has 20 years, but the chance to come to this profession is very accidental. He said that when he was still alive in mountainous Gia Lai, every holiday, Tet, friends prepared small gifts to each other. Because the poor, no money to buy gifts for you so he thought to make his own “gift”.

Of course, niceness is one thing but it must be beautiful. The idea is, but finding something to make the material is a difficult problem, causing him to “brainwash” a long time. One morning, about 1993-1994, when Nhan was a boy from 13-14 years old, she was cutting her baby’s mashed potato chips to wash the dishes, watching the fibers of the loom knit each other very well. Durable makes him give an idea: Or make a hairpin from loofah to give you?

Thought to do, Nhan hand on the “collect” the dried melon, after taking the fiber is soaked in water to squeeze straight, cut to good, then dye. After several failures, the first hairpin was born. He recalls the memories with a bit of excitement: “The first time I received a loofah hairpin, I liked it so much, and then many friends found it good and put me to work. sell…”.

Looking at fashion items (handbags, shoes …) quite subtle and beautiful, few people can imagine that the person who made that product has never been through school fashion design classes. . Mr. Nhan said, all of them are self-study, learn to draw designs and then do it.

“In the early days, I do not remember how much loaf spoons, how many times the needle is pierced by the needle, how to design a shoe, how to make beautiful fashion trends, draw a purse Handy do not know how to do when the sewing for the balance … But then, perhaps thanks to the patience, hard with a little “genetic” art from parents (his parents multiply in the Corps of Po Lang Flower – PV) so I can overcome, “- he laughed sharing.

Dream over the ocean

At present, the products from “raw material removed” that Mr. Mac Nhu Nhan make the most to make the product convenient but close to nature. For example, with a fashion line, he has bags, hats, shoes, hairpins; Skin care products, he has a set of facials, scrubs …

With a range of household products – souvenirs – decorations, he has products buckles, wash dishes, foot scrubs, paintings, dried flowers, flower pots …

“With the exception of some products that require adhesive, such as footwear and handbags, I prefer to use the most natural materials to ensure the health of consumers,” said Nhan, If preserved and used properly then surely these products are also quite durable rather than simply for display.

Even so, what makes him the most popular is not to make beautiful products, handmade products from the loom that his work has contributed to improve the value of this “poor material, bring “copper to copper out” for poor rural people. He said, before in the hometown when there are old melon is mostly left, only a few households used to wash dishes, bowls … but now he ordered all.

“My parents in Binh Dinh, my brothers in Gia Lai, also sells loofahs with the average price of about 7,000 VND / fruit, here I also put some farmers in Cu Chi, Long An. Unfortunately, I have not been able to expand the scale of production and create jobs for young people who want to study. “- Nhan to speak.

“Do you plan to develop your product overseas?” – we asked. “It’s a dream I cherish but I do not know whether it can be realized because the road is far … far away.” At present, the products made of loofah have certain defects such as raw wool, garment fashion, adhesive products, so when the water is easy to break … and he is still trying to find ways overcome gradually. However, the most important is the “attitude” of the consumer when the doubt about the quality of the product.

“Of course, with handmade products, the price will be higher with the industrial products, in addition to the user is not known much to the product I just promoted through facebook channel. I still want one day the loom will come out of the ocean to reach the world’s consumers, Loom is still the exclusive source of Vietnam, “- said Nhan.