Our bags are made from
hand-woven Indonesian textiles (tenun) like
songket, rangrang and ikat
Songket is a traditional Indonesian festive textile. Songket is woven in Lombok, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, Sulawesi and Sumbawa, and outside Indonesia in Brunei and in some areas in Malaysia. The patterns are fixed and typical to the area where the textile comes from. There are some hundreds of traditional patterns.
The most traditional festive songket is a brocade-type textile with metal wires to make the textile shiny. Lombalio songket bags are mostly from textiles without metal wires, but we also have bags with metal wires. Textiles with metal wires are not recommended for daily use.
Rangrang is a zigzag pattern that is originally used in ceremonies in Bali. Lombalio was the first to use these textiles in handbags. Nusa Penida, near Bali, is a big producer of rangrang, and some rangrang textiles are also produced in Lombok. Typical in rangrang is strong contrasting colours that still produce a harmonious combination. Thick cotton threads suit well for daily use.
In addition to basic rangrang patterns, there are similar textiles with squares. Also, sometimes the zigzag pattern is periodically moved forward causing more colourful pattern. There are also rangrang textiles with only one big diamond in them.
Ikat is a colouring technique where the pattern is painted to the threads just before weaving. The finished pattern is intentionally unsharp.
The most famous Ikat comes from the Ende area in the middle of the island Flores. It is usually dark brown because of the all-natural colours that are used. Textile usually contains black stripes.
Embroidery is a technique where the pattern is sewn to the basic textile.
Batik is a traditional hand-painted Indonesian textile. The basic textile is a cotton cloth where the pattern is painted with wax, one colour at the time. Those parts of the cloth get colour where the wax is carved away. Lombalio does not currently make bags of batik but sells some batik clothes. Batik textiles are most typical to island Java.
