Caruso Lao: International designer meets local master carver

By Keoxomphou Sakdavong

With more than 30 years of experience in the international textile and fashion world, the designer Sandra S. Yuck fell in love with Laos' culture and lifestyle and decided to pour all her skills and experience into the creation of finely crafted wood products and textiles that reflect daily life in Laos.

If you have ever visited the Settha Palace hotel in Vientiane, you might have noticed a tiny shop called Caruso Lao. It displays the finest handmade wooden pieces trimmed with silver, along with silver and textile products. They are symbolic of Laos and are elegant and artistic, appealing to international tastes. A similar, larger shop can be found in Luang Prabang, also called Caruso Lao.

Each piece made by Caruso Lao reflects aspects of Lao culture and features unique designs, crafted to perfection by local master carvers.

"I wanted to make products that would attract foreign visitors and I wanted to make them completely Lao but of a quality that would satisfy international tastes, so that people from all over the world would want to take them home and display them as a very special souvenir of Laos," said Sandra S. Yuck, the founder of Caruso Lao.

Sandra was born in Montreal, Canada, and has been living in Southeast Asia for over 30 years. Her Hong Kong-based career in fashion design and development has taken her all over the world.

In 1997, she moved to Laos, attracted by its natural beauty, the people and the culture. Since then, she has been working with talented local artisans to develop a handmade collection of high quality home accessories that combine function with elegance.

"When I first came to Laos, it was so amazing; the sky was so clear I could even imagine touching the stars. The country was very young, not much industry, no traffic jams, few hotels and restaurants. I felt that I loved this country and I would come back and I did so."

Despite her years working with textiles and garments, she found that her passion lay more with artistic creations, so she decided to concentrate on this aspect of design.

On a quest to add other materials and skills to her collection she uncovered a pair of chopsticks made from black and white ebony.

She found the artisan who had made them and discovered that the wood was being used mainly to make charcoal and not for turning out decorative items.

"I was determined to change that and thus began my journey into wood accessories development, resulting in a lot of trial and error, in a collection of black and white ebony followed by various exotic types of wood, turned, carved and sculpted by hand."

Today Caruso Laos produces a broad range of fine wood products with silver and copper trim, as well as textiles and silver and copper home accessories.

"All of our products are designed by me and crafted in Laos. Our silks are hand-woven by local weavers. Our exclusive woods are indigenous to Laos and handcrafted by master carvers and turners," Sandra said.

Caruso Lao currently employs 40 people, mostly local. "Many of them have been working with us for years, and they are good and skilled workers."

"Our main clients are from all over the world. Many people come here on holiday, go shopping and are craving for something interesting, which they find in our shop. They buy something from us and we can ship it for them," she added.

"Our main clients are American, European, South American, Mexican, and Asian and we also have local clients who want high value souvenirs."

"The clients who buy my products always mail me when they want to buy more. We also have new designs all the time because we always have regular clients, so we need to have new designs for them."

"The products are designed to be used and also can be a home decoration at the same time," Sandra said.

"We also deal with shipping, and can ship directly to clients in their home countries."

The products are also on display in some luxury hotels in Vientiane, Luang Prabang and boutique shops in neighbouring countries. "Our main sales centre is in Luang Prabang and in Vientiane we have our office, arrange the shipping and have a workshop. By appointment, clients visit our showroom at our workshop in Vientiane."

"We also have outlets in Thailand," she added.