Our love for natural dyes finds its roots in concerns for our artisans, our environment and passion for the craft and natural hues.

Components of a green dye

In 1856, while searching for cure of Malaria, William Henry Perkin discovers the first synthetic dye stuff and a new industry was born. Natural dyes, which can be traced back as far as 2400BC during the Egyptian periods began to disappear. Nowadays, environmental and societal issues linked to synthetic dyeing are bringing natural dyeing back into the sunlight.

In the United States, cancers, cerebrovascular and lung diseases leading to deaths amongst dyers are – 40 times higher, for some diseases – than in the general population. In India, governments regulations aren’t necessarily applied and honest audits are scarce. Manufacturers fighting for international orders are always looking for ways to produce cheaper. Workers are the first to pay the costs. Cancers, birth defects and respiratory diseases are rampants in villages around dyeing plants.

Rather then be a part of the problem, we wanted to make sure none of our workers or their families, anywhere in our supply chain, would suffer from making our garments. Which is the first reason why we got into natural dyes.

Unfortunately the negative externalities linked to chemical dyeing do not stop there. It is now said that the unnatural blue hue of some rivers in China can be said from space. Chemical waste from dyeing plants are being rejected into our environments around the world and particularly in countries without proper governmental supervision or technical means to ensure their proper treatment. Chemical dyeing poisons workers, their families, our air, our soil and our rivers.

Our choice for natural dyes is not limited to side effects of chemical dyeing. We love natural colours. With colours coming from roots, nuts, flowers and fruits, we achieve hues impossible to synthesise. One of the most pleasant surprise we had working with natural dyes was the realisation that all of the colours we developed were matching beautifully with one another. They’re all present as is in nature, and we aim at putting them back in your clothes.