“It’s hard to pronounce it right, try ‘Puwa-quaa’. Well, ‘pua’ means Himalayan Giant Nettle (allo) and ‘qua’ means attire. It comes from the language of the indigenous mountain people who first produced the cloth from allo,” says Prashant Budhathoki, who started Puaqua with Manoj Pun, Shree Ram Ghimire and Sub­odh Dhakal.

Himalayan nettle is finer, stron­ger and more elastic than linen and is naturally found in the wild. Budhathoki had seen Nepal’s imports balloon and at the back of his mind, he was always thinking “What can Nepal export?” Then he met Manoj Pun, who was already working on nettle wear. After a con­versation with him, Puaqua came into being two years ago. They claim to be the first Nepali company to make fashionable and wearable high-quality nettle-wear mixed with fine fabric.

Pun belongs to the Magar com­munity that has traditionally used many allo products. He says, “The generation of my grandparents, who are from a hilly region, know a lot about nettle. When they returned from jungles with skin allergy, they used to scrub allo to soothe.” There are other benefits to using allo, according to the founders. “Wear­ing allo is a good way to reduce blood pressure, easing headaches. Additionally, its natural hollow fiber provides natural insulation.” Puaqua founders assure that their clothes are warm in winter and cool in summer.

Puaqua wants the youth to be environmentally conscious and to create jobs for high-altitude communities

“We buy allo from commu­nities in high altitude places like Rolpa, Dadeldhura and Rukum. The collected raw material is taken to Korea for processing. We tried to process it in Nepal first, then in India and China, but we could not get a fine result,” reveals Budhathoki while showing some Puaqua wearable products that are 70 percent organic cotton and 30 percent allo. They make bags, jogger pants, trousers, shirts and scarves. “The more allo is mixed, the harsher the texture of the clothes becomes. So we are still contemplating whether to increase its percent in our products.”

He says more Nepali companies are not in this business because of high risk in it. “People question us: Goods made from only nettle are easily available in Thamel, so why make wearable goods out of it? And with their high prices, will they actu­ally sell? Well, we took the risk and we are still working on identifying our target customers to sustain this business,” says Pun.

Puaqua is trying to tap into the US and Australian markets. Meanwhile, the price of their products affect sales in Nepal. A Puaqua scarf costs Rs 1,800, a shirt Rs 5,300, a pair of pants Rs 5,500, a backpack Rs 6,500 and a tote bag Rs 5,500. Some Nepalis ask why they have to pay so much if these products are really made in Nepal.

So what differentiates Puaqua products from other products made from allo? “The craftsmanship, the Korean processing and above all the high quality,” says Budhathoki. Costs are higher still when they have to export and so they sell their clothes at around Rs 11,000 apiece in the US and Australia. “So far the response has been good from our international clients, proba­bly because these are people who are very conscious about the envi­ronment.” Keeping this in mind, Puaqua is also thinking of exporting to Nordic countries.

“Clothes made from natural fiber are expensive. In the alleys of New Road, one can find clothes-hats made from unnatural and non-degradable fibers like nylon and polyester. So many of these end up in Bagmati River and they will not degrade. So we also wanted to make clothes that are fully bio-degradable,” says Pun. Puaqua wants the youth to be envi­ronmentally conscious and to create jobs for high-altitude communities, especially women who do looming and weaving.

You can find their products at Music Art Gallery Café at Jham­sikhel, and Babarmahal Revisited.