The Winter 14 Workshop natural indigo collection celebrates a traditional, artisanal and hand crafted process reflecting the heritage and ethos of the Workshop brand.
The collection came about after founder and Creative Director Chris Cherry, became aware of a traditional natural indigo dying facility located in an ancient village outside Shanghai.
Founded in 1880 the facility has recently been identified as a cultural treasure where the art of indigo hand dying has been nurtured, passed on and preserved for generations. The process using only natural plant indigo and other vegetable dyes has not been modified or altered by new technologies; each essential step remains the same.
All garments in the natural indigo collection are dyed using rare natural indigo plant dye, a resource that has largely been superseded by synthetic indigo since the late 60s. The pure cotton fabric is first prepared by intricately hand stitching the design into the cloth which will hold back and lock out the dye.
Once prepared the cloth is immersed into vats of pure natural indigo dye, repeatedly stirred and manipulated by hand to ensure that the indigo dye is fully absorbed. It is then spun and hung up over trestles to dry – this lengthy process is repeated 18 times to achieve the unique deep rich dark indigo colour of the finished cloth.
After the 18th cycle the hand stitching is unpicked revealing the final design and the fabric is hung outside to dry in the sun over towering bamboo racks. The placement of the fabric using long bamboo poles is something of an acrobatic skill in itself…
The beauty of the collection is in the juxtaposition of the traditional, hand crafted fabric and Workshop’s clean modern styling. The styles in the natural indigo collection are minimal and timeless featuring long and short sleeve shirts for men, shift and sheath dresses for women and mens and womens tee’s. Subtle details from each style fuse together clean modern lines with gentle references to the fabric’s natural beauty and unique artisanal quality.
Workshop Denim Hand Dyed Natural Indigo Collection is available instore and online now..