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Süm Süm Sü from The SÜ Archive.

We still haven’t moved on from this one. And honestly, we keep finding more photographs we love 🤭🥰😍

Tassels are an integral part of traditional Naga textile language. Across communities, clans and villages, fringe textiles appear in many forms, each with its own distinct variations and meanings.

This textile was tagged as the Süm Süm Sü, from the museum collection of Late Rendikala, a piece we recently acquired. Also called a Takatsür Sü or Tekalar Sü, it was traditionally worn by wealthy women whose husbands had hosted a Feast of Merit and sacrificed mithuns. Looking back at older Naga textiles, we find that tassels and fringes were once a recurring design element across many communities.

In frame @adelalmchen

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SÜM SÜM SÜ

Tassels are an integral part of traditional Naga textile language. Across communities, clans and villages, fringe textiles appear in many forms, each with its own distinct variations and meanings.

This textile was tagged as the Süm Süm Sü, from the museum collection of Late Rendikala, a piece we recently acquired. Also called a Takatsür Sü or Tekalar Sü, it was traditionally worn by wealthy women whose husbands had hosted a Feast of Merit and sacrificed mithuns. Looking back at older Naga textiles, we find that tassels and fringes were once a recurring design element across many communities

In frame @adelalmchen @atujamir__

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AOWA LONG SÜ/AOW SÜ

This tasseled beauty stands among the many variations of fringe and tasseled textiles found within the rich textile language of the Nagas. This piece belongs to the women of the Walling clan of the Ao Naga tribe fondly called Wallinglars

We reproduced it from an heirloom Aowa Long Sü from the collection of Senti Walling of Nokpu Village who was kind enough to share it with us.

Woven on the shuttle loom

Available now!

In frame @adelalmchen

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THE SÜ ARCHIVE

The Sü Archive is our ongoing effort in collaboration with @wapangla_weavingunit to continue making historically significant heirloom Naga textiles. Built on the foundation of continuity and preservation, it attempts to carry textile stories forward through reproduction without design modification, documentation and continued use.

SÜ in the Ao Naga dialect means cloth or textile.

In frame @atujamir__

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MANGKO LONGSÜ / ZÜBU SÜ / EPA SÜ

From our interactions, we have been told that it was worn by men who had successfully completed the Feast of Merit and ceremonially sacrificed mithuns. Wives, daughters and granddaughters of Feast of Merit givers also wore it in honour and recognition of their family’s achievements.

The museum piece we acquired from the family of Late Rendikala of Changtongya Village was tagged as Mangko Longsü, (seen on @atujamir__ on slide 1 and on Late Rendikala on slide 4) while a similar heirloom preserved in our grandfather’s collection is known as Epa Sü or Zübu Sü, (seen on P.Atsung Walling on slide 3) meaning “the cowrie-shell decorated shawl,” referring to its distinctive shell embellishments. There could be variations in interpretations and names but the central meaning remains consistent. The shawl was a symbol of earned status.

Such shawls were commonly referred to as Takar Sü or Takatsür Sü among the Ao Nagas. It signified a person of wealth, prestige, and social standing.

The Feast of Merit was part of a wider social institution found across many Naga societies. Through these feasts, economic wealth was transformed into social honour. The sacrifice of valuable animals, particularly mithun signified wealth and prosperity

By and large, Mangko Longsü/EPA/Zübu Sü is more than just a shawl but it is a textile record of prestige earned.

Slide 1: @atujamir__ wearing the old piece acquired from the Late Rendikala Museum collection

Slide 2: @adelalmchen wearing our newly reproduced piece.

Woven on the loin loom in cotton

Made-to-order

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THE SÜ ARCHIVE

The Sü Archive is our ongoing effort in collaboration with @wapangla_weavingunit to continue making historically significant heirloom Naga textiles. Built on the foundation of continuity and preservation, it attempts to carry textile stories forward through reproduction without design modification, documentation and continued use.

SÜ in the Ao Naga dialect means cloth or textile

In frame @adelalmchen and @atujamir__

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THE SÜ ARCHIVE

The Sü Archive is our ongoing effort in collaboration with @wapangla_weavingunit to continue making historically significant heirloom Naga textiles. Built on the foundation of continuity and preservation, it attempts to carry textile stories forward through reproduction without design modification, documentation and continued use.

SÜ in the Ao Naga dialect means cloth or textile

In frame @adelalmchen and @atujamir__

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THE SÜ ARCHIVE

The Sü Archive is our ongoing effort in collaboration with @wapangla_weavingunit to continue making historically significant heirloom Naga textiles. Built on the foundation of continuity and preservation, it attempts to carry textile stories forward through reproduction without design modification, documentation and continued use.

SÜ in the Ao Naga dialect means cloth or textile.

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Curated a special list of Indian brands from Season 1 of #IshtatesOfIndia. It’s been over two years since I worked with many of these brands, and yet their work has stayed with me because craftsmanship rooted in culture doesn’t age, it only gains value. These brands deserve far more applause than they ever received. Building something grounded in Indian craft and heritage is not easy in a world obsessed with fast trends and instant gratification, but these makers chose patience, purpose, and integrity over shortcuts.

This Republic Day, as we celebrate India, its freedom, and its identity, let’s also celebrate the hands that keep our culture alive. Indian craftsmanship is not just skill , it’s history, resilience, and generations of knowledge passed down quietly, stitch by stitch, weave by weave. I’m deeply grateful to have found these brands and to have shared space with their stories. I’ll support their work a million times over, and I hope you will too. Take a moment to discover them, celebrate them, and honour the craft that truly represents the spirit of India. 🇮🇳

Find them tagged in the pictures 💃🏻🌸
Can you spot the states my outfits are from? 👀

#IshtatesofIndia , Indian Craft, Indian Heritage, Indian Brands, Handlooms, Handicraft

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Our 88 year-old Obu (grandfather) very proudly wearing his heirloom EPA shawl, first owned by his paternal grandfather. This cotton loin loomed shawl richly adorned with hand-stitched cowrie shell motifs also remains the source of inspiration behind many of our cowrie shell designs. ‘EPA’ takes its name from the Ao Naga word for cowrie shells.

Though the fabric has grown delicate with age, its beauty remains and continues to inspire our work today. 🥰🥰

Here’s some background about cowrie shells in the context of Naga textiles

Cowrie shells hold a significant place in Naga textile history. They are believed to have used as a currency for commerce with Assam. The large circles of cowries on textiles symbolized a victorious warrior or a feast of merit giver. Additionally, during festivals and special occasions, the daughter of such a guy could also wear a fabric with cowrie circles. Another theory states that the richer the man was the more cowrie embellished the textile was whereas the poorer man would have a scantily adorned textile.

Traditionally, an extra line of cowrie shells embroidered onto a man’s body fabric denoted that he had an affair with two sisters or two girls at the same time.

The Nagas are believed to have bartered salt, cotton, medical herbs, ivory, bees’ wax, mats and ‭daos (ma-‬chetes) for rice, cloth and b‭eads, cowries from the plains. ‬

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