Eco Print and Sashiko at the ASICS Women's Retreat
Summer 2025 — RXV Wellness Village, Thailand
ASICS brought together more than 35 women from across Southeast Asia for its Regional Women's Retreat in July 2025 — athletes, coaches and guests, four days at RXV Wellness Village. Sunrise runs, team challenges, spa treatments. Our part ran in the middle of it: two textile crafts, four groups, one afternoon.
Photo: Khatleen Bongcarawan Two crafts, four rotations
Groups of about 10 moved through the sessions across half a day. One table for eco print: leaves and flowers laid onto cotton, the bundle rolled tight and steamed until the plants gave up their color. One table for sashiko: a traditional Japanese running stitch, worked in white thread across indigo cotton, one line at a time.
The pairing was deliberate. Eco print is fast and unpredictable — you don't know what you have until the bundle comes apart. Sashiko is slow and exact. After a morning run, a group takes to both for different reasons.
Everything came from Bangkok
We brought all plant material, mordants, steaming equipment, fabric, needles and thread from the studio. Nothing was gathered on site, and nothing depended on what the venue could supply. Setup happened before the first group arrived; pack-down after the last one left.
For a retreat schedule, that matters more than the craft itself. The sessions had to start and finish on time, with the next activity waiting. Working at a retreat venue
Retreats and offsites are the format we run most often outside the studio. The constraints are the same every time: a fixed window in someone else's schedule, a room that wasn't built for craft, guests who have never done any of it. We plan around all three before we load the van.
The retreat was covered by Tatler Asia: Sound Mind, Sound Body: how Asics redefines strength for women across Southeast Asia.
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