Vermont Artist Dyes Fabric With Sumac And Indigo For Janis Joplin-Inspired Clothing

VPR, Vermont NPR writes: “Recently,  NPR has been exploring the concept of color and the impact that rich hues have in our day-to-day lives. That’s a topic that’s near and dear to one Northeast Kingdom artist. Graham Keegan makes fabric dye from plants that he harvests near his Kirby home — plants like wild sumac and home-grown indigo. His natural dyes attracted the attention of a clothing line that pays homage to Janis Joplin. The late singer’s niece, Malyn Joplin, has launched a clothing line called “Made for Pearl,” and she’s hired Keegan to design and produce fabric.” Check out the … Read more

‘Water and Earth’ on View at Gallery 51 in North Adams, MA

Gallery 51 manager Julia Morgan-Leamon and North Adams, Massachusetts artist Sarah Sutro, who has a studio in the Eclipse Mill, have curated a group show of 10 local, national and international artists, in “Water and Earth,” a call to protect fragile ecosystems. “Sutro brought the idea to the gallery. It has roots in a trip abroad, she said. She lived in Bangladesh for two years and in Thailand for four. Bangladesh is a burgeoning society, she said. It has come through rough conflict in 1971 and has begun to develop: Small businesses are coming back and are open to sharing … Read more

Introducing…Botanical Colors Indigo and Alabama Chanin!

We’ve been waiting to tell you all about our collaborative project with Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin and so welcome you to the world of blue! Ecouterre writes: “Alabama Chanin is back in blue. After a nearly two-year hiatus, the Florence, Ala.-based apparel label is reintroducing its popular indigo collection, including pieces dyed for the first time on location at the sprawling design and production space it calls “The Factory.” Manufactured locally from 100 percent organic cotton, the revamped range incorporates a mix of basic accessories, classic styles, and hand-embellished one-of-a-kind designs, along with overdyed offerings from A. Chanin, its … Read more

Dyeing for Dummies: Natural Dye Poster Child-Indigo

Indigo has a long standing history of heavy-duty power in terms of economics and trade and is probably one of the most talked and written about dyes in the natural dye world. We love the color blue and all its moodiness. It’s also very in for fall 14. Get ready for the navy explosion! For this Dyeing for Dummies, I have put not only myself but husband and daughter in the cross hairs of looking foolish, over exuberant, and dummy-like. (Side note, they had a blast and refuse to be called dummies.) We used all of Botanical Colors’ dyes and … Read more

Lookout & Wonderland Takes Willing Participants on a Dye Journey

Lookout & Wonderland is an L.A. based fiber art project with Niki Livingston at the helm, with a concentrated focus on the exploration of the applied arts. The mission is to create a range of multi-use textiles that allow the viewer to become an active participant in the form and function of the artwork. And, we’re more than proud to say Niki is one of our customers. According to C Social Front, lately “Livingston has been logging more miles in the air than she has traversing the concrete floors of her downtown studio. She’s collaborated with MiH Jeans on an … Read more

For Tiina Laakkonen and the Elder Statesman, Blue Is the Warmest Color

“As anyone familiar with her styling work, her Amagansett, N.Y., boutique, Tiina, or her nearby home already knows, Tiina Laakkonen really, really loves indigo. “Blue is my favorite color and indigo is the most natural, alive version of it,” she says. “I used to live in black clothes when I lived in New York, but they seem too hard in both the light and the life out East.” Now, Laakkonen has teamed up with one of the designers whose work she carries in her store, Greg Chait of the Elder Statesman, to create limited editions of four Elder Statesman styles in her signature … Read more

Social Change Through Indigo, Shibori and EILEEN FISHER

This past weekend we had the pleasure of collaborating with EILEEN FISHER’S GREEN EILEEN team at a workshop in Seattle at the Hillman City Collaboratory. The Collaboratory is a center for the arts and an incubator for social change with a mission to create a space of transformation including the built environment and the programming specifically designed to create community and equip change-makers.  The Collaboratory is housed in a multi-use complex that incorporates four unique spaces: the mixing chamber, the coworking office, the learning kitchen, and the community park & garden. Attendees learned the Japanese art of shibori and natural … Read more

MALVAR=STEWART’s BLUEPRINT Collection

Celeste Malvar-Stewart, the designer of Columbus, Ohio based MALVAR=STEWART creates “non-seasonal lines of women’s clothing,” using salvaged fabrics and local natural dyes that do not follow the standard fashion concept of “this season’s color palette.” They also focus on unconventional design that is thoughtful towards the environment at every stage of the garment’s life cycle, without compromising beauty, quality, and integrity that by nature is one-off. As original as Malvar-Stewart’s collection is, Fresh Cut TEXTILES led by founder/natural dyer Amanda Cinco-Hoyt. FcT is an independent natural dye studio located in Detroit, created by Cinco-Hoyt and fully inspired by color, texture, exploration … Read more

EILEEN FISHER’s GREEN EILEEN Turns to Natural Dyes (That Means Us!)

GREEN EILEEN is an initiative of the EILEEN FISHER COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, a non-profit organization that supports systematic changes that positively impact women and girls around the world. The branch is a recycled clothing program that extends the life of timeless EILEEN FISHER garments which are re-sold at both the Seattle and Irvington, New York GREEN EILEEN stores and all money made goes to support the non-profit programs in which the company strongly believes in. Enter Botanical Colors. Kerri Ulloa of Seattle’s GREEN EILEEN holding an EILEEN FISHER tank top dyed using Botanical Colors’ very own Indigo While GREEN EILEEN is … Read more