Sustainability, naturally-dyed and regionally grown are phrases now commonplace within the vogue trade. But manufacturers that develop their very own crops to create dyes are few and far between. Which is what designer Mridu Mehta Tiwari hopes to vary with Kokūn (that means, cocoon), which she based in 2020, to create zero-waste clothes eco-printed with tannin-rich leaves and flowers.
“Along with pure dyeing, our focus is on zero-waste methods, and we see to it that not even a single piece of our scrap leads to landfills. We patch and upcycle to make distinctive one-offs,” says Mridu, 30, who dropped her spring collection lately.
Inspired by nature, the vary — that includes stretchy tops, pants, and skirts — attracts from the “altering seasons and their impermanence and vivid magnificence” and makes use of seasonal flowers and crops as dyes. Each piece is made-to-order, and makes use of “sluggish stitching” hand embroidery methods like sashiko and kantha.
A naturally-dyed material
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Special Arrangement
The designer says she primarily works with “sustainably grown, unbleached pure fibres and materials”, resembling handwoven cotton, linen, hemp, and jute, that are sourced immediately from weaving communities in West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat.
“The uncooked materials act like clean canvases and are then dyed utilizing our home-grown crops and their extracts. Recently, we now have been utilizing unbleached cotton knits and have additionally been entering into hand-knitting yarns, as they accommodate ease of motion,” says Mridu, who can be launching her menswear collection quickly. “In the approaching months, we can be launching handwoven hemp, jute, and cotton shirts dyed with neem, rhubarb, and madder.”
The pure dye package
Also within the works are kits to encourage individuals to make their very own pure dyes. “We wish to dive deeper into the world of pure pigments and their extraction, and persuade individuals to modify to pure dyes,” says Mridu.
To be launched quickly, the kits with easy directions will comprise dye extracts, dye flowers, and materials to experiment with, in a ready-to-use type. “While sitting in any a part of the world, we wish individuals to have the ability to expertise colors, derived naturally from the Indian subcontinent and use them to mess around and dye/redye their previous/new garments and textiles,” says Mridu, including, “We encourage native village girls to dye with us. We practice and make use of rural girls in villages of Leti Bunga (Uttarakhand) and Raghurampur (Uttar Pradesh).”
Mridu Mehta Tiwari
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She explains that round 60% of the crops are grown by them. Especially the dye flowers like roses, marigolds (additionally procured from temple waste), hibiscus, cosmos, butterfly pea flowers, and so on. are all grown close to their workshop in Lucknow, and dyeing models in Raghurampur and Leti Bunga respectively. “We wish to have interaction native individuals, so the opposite dye crops are purchased from native farmers in close by lands. Both states are extraordinarily fertile and some crops like neem (Azadirachta indica) and Aamla (Indian gooseberry) are available all through the villages in Uttar Pradesh. Whereas, rosemary and stinging nettle can be found in Uttarakhand. We have researched and have native farmers as sources of barely uncommon dye crops just like the Himalayan rhubarb, maddar roots, and so on.”
Root to material
Explaining the dye extraction course of, Mridu says, every methodology varies relying on the place the dye is being extracted from: the leaves, flowers, or roots.
“Most of it entails soaking and stirring the dye supply in water for 2 days — we often favor photo voltaic dyeing, particularly throughout summer season. After just a few days, the plant half fades because the water it is soaked in takes up the color. The material is completely washed and ready for dyeing by treating it with oak galls (plant growths created by small oak gall wasps) in order that it absorbs color. Sometimes, to get richer colors, we mordant the material twice.” Depending on the design, clothes are made in unbleached pure materials and colored later utilizing pure printing and hand-dyeing methods.
Fabrics crafted at Kokūn
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However, there are challenges in working with pure dyes. “Natural colors are often known as residing colors, which suggests they work together with virtually each factor they arrive in to contact with; they oxidise simply and have a restricted shelf life; thereby, making their use very attention-grabbing and equally tough to grasp,” explains Mridu, including how the dyeing course of additionally entails treating and fixing textiles utilizing sustainable mordants, in order that they produce vivid shades and textiles which don’t bleed or fade.
Another problem, she faces, is replicating the identical shades, “which is virtually unimaginable because of the nature of the supplies used”. “Due to those causes, sadly many massive manufacturers are scared to undertake pure dyes and proceed utilizing artificial dyes,” says Mridu, who hopes to vary this along with her pure dye kits.
Details on kokun.in