The Atelier serves primarily as a connector of small lotus fiber producers with the atelier’s of the global fashion capitals. Curiously it is the Big Four (Paris, Milan, London, and New York) that need more educating than the newer Asian markets such as Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong which seemingly have a slightly more elevated awareness of how luxurious and exclusive lotus fiber is.
So, yes, Atelier Padonma does indeed produce lotus fiber apparel but with the intent of getting the fabric touched by artisans at true ateliers. After photoshoots showing off the few garments that Atelier Padonma actually produces, the products end up in the hands of customers who want the garments but realize that what the reason they are paying haute couture prices is that they are actually funding the bootstrapping of the Padonma Network.
Or at least that is the plan; if things work out well perhaps Atelier Padonma becomes an real brand sourcing lotus fabric from suppliers at some scale to crank out garments. Notice that Atelier Padonma focuses on resort attire based on design that are historically Burmese. In this way we stay out of sectors which true fashion houses service while still having a focused theme to the atelier’s product line.
Business goal
It may well be that Atelier Padonma becomes a brand known for putting its name on excellent lotus fiber apparel sourced from various artisans, with the brand name serving as a proxy for quality, while simultaneously anyone is free to join the Padonma Network without any quality controls and no association or profit sharing with Atelier Padonma.
Further, there is nothing about the technology developed for the Padonma Network that is specific to lotus fiber. Any textile artisan who can handweave a QR code (which the Padonma Network has endevoured to make as easy as possible to adopt) can get on the network and asvertise their goods no matter what fiber they are made of. Atelier Padonma started on the lotus fiber part because its intense manual labor causing natural scarcity and novelty make it an excellent candidate for selling into the haute couture world.
Atelier aestetic goal: Burmese inspired but not folkloric
Jan-Jan Van Essche: ~“Build a pattern language based in the cultural roots but then without making it folkloric”
So, for example, the above lotus jacket is quite a good looking piece but is simply something Padonma is not going to touch with a ten foot pole. Plus, Why Chinese netizens hate the Adidas Chinese jacket/
(as amazing as the textile culture of Southeast Asian is some of it is simply too wildly folkloric to sell well to customers outside the region, except successful members of the diapora wishing to maintain a connection with their roots).