In Japan, 藍染め “ai-zo-may”, is the practice of using the Indigo plant, known in Japanese as 藍 “ai”, to dye textiles. The color produced in the process ranges from a light green to a dark blue to a deep purple. Although not unique to Japanese culture, the art of Indigo dyeing was extremely important during the Edo period of Japan since it was forbidden for common people to wear silk; leading to a massive boom in cotton textiles and Indigo.
Indigo comes from the Polygonaceae family of flowering plants known in English as Japanese Knotweed, and informally as buckwheat in the U.S. and most of the West where it is associated with denim. However, the Indigo in most denim is not actually Indigo at all. Most modern denim is made with a synthetic blue dye obtained from petroleum.
Birds of a feather flock together. 類は友を呼ぶ。
My husband, being a leathersmith, often meets other artists through work and trade shows. At this last event, he introduced me to Mr and Mrs. Daido. ; The husband and wife duo behind So-i. 草衣. An all natural brand of environmentally sustainable clothing of sorts. Mr. Daido, a dyer, cultivates and produces his own Indigo while, Mrs. Daido, a weaver, weaves the fabric and then produces each garment one by one.
