In Vietnam, craftswoman gives fallen leaves new life through intricate handmade fans

Through the skilled hands of the Hue City-born craftswoman, delicate fans made from processed leaf veins are quietly taking shape.

The intricate network of veins left after the fleshy parts of leaves are removed is what Nguyen calls the "leaf skeleton," the main material for her one-of-a-kind fans.

Amid growing interest in sustainable living and vintage-inspired products among young people, the nature-based craft is creating a distinctive cultural appeal.

Giving fallen leaves new life

Raised in Hue, a city known for its poetic beauty, Nguyen inherited her artistic sensibility from her mother, a painter, and her father, artisan Vo Ngoc Hung, who specializes in making handicrafts from leaves.

After graduating in lacquer painting from the University of Arts, Hue University and spending nine years honing her skills, Nguyen pursued her own path in fashion and game design.

However, concerned that her father's traditional 'leaf-skeleton' craft could fade away, she decided to return to the family trade.

Rather than limiting herself to the family's traditional hats made from leaves, she began developing an entirely new accessory: a fan made from processed leaf veins.

Nguyen went through dozens of failed experiments and damaged nearly a dozen fans while developing her first designs.

Initially, she struggled with processing the leaf skeletons.

Later, she encountered problems with glue coming loose, broken ribs, and fans that could not withstand repeated opening and closing.

Instead of giving up, she identified the causes of each problem and made adjustments directly to the products.

After about three months of experimentation, her first 'leaf-skeleton' fan was completed.

Living and working in Da Nang at the time, Nguyen sent the product to her family's display space in her hometown.

A customer who had come to buy one of the family's hats noticed the new fan on display, liked it, and bought the entire fan set.

The customer became the first buyer of her new product.

The materials include leaves from tropical almond trees, lotus, white champaca, crape-myrtle, and kudzu plants.

After being collected, the leaves are soaked in water mixed with baking soda for one to one and a half months so that they naturally decompose.

Nguyen then carefully brushes away the fleshy part of each leaf, preserving its sturdy veins before dyeing it with natural food coloring, backing it with transparent silk, attaching it to bamboo ribs, and painstakingly painting decorative patterns.

"I realized how passionate I was about the craft when I started doing the work my parents had been doing. I want to learn the craft to preserve it and show that Vietnamese handicrafts can be incredibly intricate," Nguyen said.

Taking 'leaf-skeleton' fans to the world

Beyond preserving the family craft, Nguyen has elevated her 'leaf-skeleton' products with a modern fashion sensibility.

Her customers include brides, handicraft enthusiasts, collectors, gift buyers, and foreign tourists.

Prices vary depending on the complexity of the design, with fans featuring special designs and patterns costing up to VND1.4-1.8 million (US$54-69).

Her products have reached customers in countries including the U.S., Germany, Portugal, and the UK.

More recently, through social media, Nguyen was commissioned to make products for a Vietnamese ao dai fashion show in the UK.

She had only 10 days to complete five sets of hats and fans, requiring her to work almost through the night.

The designs combined Vietnamese imagery with British landmarks and symbols, including the One Pillar Pagoda, Tower Bridge, and Big Ben, as well as distinctive images representing Vietnam's northern, central, and southern regions.

For Nguyen, taking the products overseas is about more than selling handicrafts.

She wants to highlight the beauty of handmade products crafted from natural materials while incorporating traditional Vietnamese motifs such as dragons, phoenixes, and Dong Ho folk paintings into contemporary designs.

"I want to use these fans to spread the spirit of Vietnamese culture around the world and show international friends that Vietnamese handicrafts are painstakingly made, intricate and highly aesthetic," Nguyen said proudly.

Building on her family's craft, Nguyen continues to explore ways to bring traditional materials into modern life.

She said she experiments with new designs almost every day, from shapes to decorative patterns, hoping to make the products more diverse and appealing to handicraft lovers in Vietnam and abroad.

The 'leaf-skeleton' fans therefore preserve more than the delicate veins of fallen leaves.

In the hands of this craftswoman born in the 1980s, the delicate leaf veins left behind are given a new life, carrying with them the story of a traditional craft being passed down through creativity.