The Art of Indigo

There's nothing more vintage than indigo. Going on 6,000 years, indigo dye has been used in everything from royal robes to ancient currency to the original American flag. It ages like a champ and promises to keep its cool... forever. It's an ancient art form that traces it's cultural roots to India and its actual roots to the Indigofera plant. Over the course of a few millennia, indigo dyeing spread from India to the rest of Asia, across the Middle East to West Africa and Europe, then finally onto North America and the Caribbean. Across the globe, you can pretty much find an iteration of indigo in every culture. With infinite cases of indigo comes near-infinte dyeing practices. In parts of Africa and Japan, traditional communal indigo dye pits are still going strong. But more often that not, "organic commercial indigo" is made in poor, unregulated facilities that dump blue wastewater into local waterways. So as much as we love plant-based dyes, we stick to a modern synthetic blend because of it's environmental upsides. Our indigo dye is a synthetic dye from India and we use it to dye 100% organic cotton yarns (side note: organic cotton promotes soil health, water conservation, and forbids the use of chemical pesticides). Our indigo styles are single-dyed (which uses less water that traditional methods) and wastewater is captured and treated. No scary blue rivers here! If you're the proud owner of indigo clothing, you know that it ages gracefully and changes slightly with every wash – so be sure to wash with like colors. And hey, if you're into the traditional methods, grab a white shirt and try your hand at indigo-dying yourself. Like we say, indigo-for-it.