“Ehram is a traditional handcrafted woven fabric produced and used mainly in the Eastern Anatolian regions like Erzurum, Erzincan, Bayburt, and Artvin. Made from Hand-spun raw wool, ehram is woven on custom-made looms through flat weaving, mainly by local women. This local garment, which women drape around themselves as a single piece, has been used since the 1850s.

Natural materials, non-chemical raw processing, and flat weaving by local women are the main reasons for the product’s great value.

Ehram’s primary material is wool, sheared from local six/seven-month-old sheep. The wool is then dried using natural methods, combed, and twisted into weaving threads. The local community believes that the strands of this wool are long and will not shrink in the rain. The value of ehram comes from the delicacy of its thread, and it is made with natural colors of wool such as brown, black, and cream. Colorful lines are added as embroidery on ehram during or after weaving. Thanks to its natural wool structure, ehram provides warmth during winter and cool during the summer.

Ehram holds a cultural identity for the women of the region and is used in different colors by women based on their marital status and age. Women who have lost their spouses wear black ehram, while newlywed women wear white. Women with young children wear light brown ehram, and middle-aged and older mothers prefer purple colors.”