NEW SPRING SUMMER COLLECTION
The prayer flags will remain at the peak as remnants of the festivities – slowly becoming bleached by the sun and frayed by the wind. ‘Nature and people are interdependent. Humans cannot survive without nature, and we honour it by paying homage to our mountains . . . asking the deities residing there to help us open our minds to good intentions and deeds that will help restore harmony.’ – Dorjee Dhundup, Head of Inventory, Norlha
Norlha’s Spring Summer scarves and capsule clothes collection for 2024 borrows inspiration from the prayer flags of laptse as they succumb to the elements, symbolising the synergistic relationship between people and the natural world on the plateau.
Celebrated by Ritoma’s nomad community, the laptse festival is dedicated to a local mountain deity, after whom the area’s highest peak is named: Amnye Tongra. To mark the day every year, nomad families gather on foot and horseback at the top of this sacred mountain to perform rites and ceremonies in honour of the deity. Incense offerings fill the air with smoke and the earthy scent of burnt juniper; fistfuls of paper blessings are thrown high and fall softly to the ground; young horsemen light firecrackers and call out exhortations; and prayer flags flutter in the breeze, which is still sharp with the chill of early spring.