INDIGO
Japan is Blue was the first impression of early travellers
in the 19th century. The countryside was indigo,
wrapped in layers of mountains in varying shades of blue.
It still is.
The craze for indigo continues today.
In torn jeans and workmen’s jackets, policemen’s uniforms,
mothers’ suits on the first day of school, traffic signs,
blue is the message. Best when it is indigo.
The cultivation of indigo is a laborious process of growing
and drying indigo leaves, composting and fermenting them
in a mixture of wood ash and hotwater, lime, sake and rice bran (nuka).
Cloth is repeatedly dipped in vats of indigo and
turns a deep and vibrant blue when exposed to air.
The magic of the organic and chemical process,
the hard work of the dyers and cultivators remain in the
cloth and give it a quality that is at once calming and reassuring.
Small wonder that indigo is the choice of people of
all ages from trendy teenagers in holey jeans
to kendo martial arts athletes in indigo hakama,
to cool men in indigo jackets and indigo kasuri scarves,
indigo is the way ofJapan, and has been for centuries.
In the increased mass production of cheap, fast,
in and out materials today, the slow process of indigo dyeing has
growing appeal to people who want their clothes
to have meaning and to last forever.
Japan is Blue was the first impression of early travellers
in the 19th century. The countryside was indigo,
wrapped in layers of mountains in varying shades of blue.
It still is.
The craze for indigo continues today.
In torn jeans and workmen’s jackets, policemen’s uniforms,
mothers’ suits on the first day of school, traffic signs,
blue is the message. Best when it is indigo.
The cultivation of indigo is a laborious process of growing
and drying indigo leaves, composting and fermenting them
in a mixture of wood ash and hotwater, lime, sake and rice bran (nuka).
Cloth is repeatedly dipped in vats of indigo and
turns a deep and vibrant blue when exposed to air.
The magic of the organic and chemical process,
the hard work of the dyers and cultivators remain in the
cloth and give it a quality that is at once calming and reassuring.
Small wonder that indigo is the choice of people of
all ages from trendy teenagers in holey jeans
to kendo martial arts athletes in indigo hakama,
to cool men in indigo jackets and indigo kasuri scarves,
indigo is the way ofJapan, and has been for centuries.
In the increased mass production of cheap, fast,
in and out materials today, the slow process of indigo dyeing has
growing appeal to people who want their clothes
to have meaning and to last forever.