Many Indonesian women learn to weave traditional fabrics from their mothers and grandmothers. They produce these textiles mostly for their own use at weddings, births, funerals, and traditional events. Some also sell the fabrics they produce to help support their family.

This time-consuming process can often take months to complete, and it typically yields little profit. For example, the cloth used in our Savu lumbar pillow cover takes almost a year to make. The next generation is skeptical in terms of how to make weaving a viable and profitable source of livelihood, because they understand just how difficult it already is to make ends meet.

Tanatenun was founded in 2019 to preserve these traditions, to create a source of income, and to provide financial literacy training for the artisan women who inhabit these remote villages and islands in Indonesia.

To bring their talents, passions, capabilities, and creations to life, we’ve partnered with traditional weavers and collaborate with them to determine a fair and profitable price for the textiles we use to create our products. Our long term goal is to end the cycle of poverty.

The name Tanatenun comes from the following Indonesian words: “Tanah”, meaning ground or earth; and “Tenun”, which translates to weaving.

Combined together, “Tanatenun” represents our commitment to using natural materials and natural dyes to color our woven textiles, and to provide a reliable source of income for the women we work with each and everyday.