ARCHITEXTURE: Bespoke in Blue

Made to measure, unique with the use of new materials speak loudly to both the environment and the body which they cloak.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye,  centre ©Aina Beck

The Gugenheim museum in Bilbao made from puffy irridecsent titanium sheets clearly has a huge influence on metallic coated denims in similar strict yet undulating shapes.

©BCBG Max Azria

Undulations continue on the body by bias cutting indigo and using lycra* to form the desired shape.  Rigid indigo forms itself in stiffly curling shapes to both enhance the figure beneath and create sculpture from without.

l-r: ©Anrealage ©Balmain

Big bias cut shapes and front pleats contain volume in brightest indigo. Clear geometric shapes could be seen as influence or indeed bias cutting an influence on architecture.   Either way there is a great deal of interaction and inter-influence between contemporary indigo textiles and architecture.

ARCHITEXTURE: Bold Big Ideas. Big Textures.

Massive, bold, uncompromising  scale of indigo patterns in technical finishes and stretch which distorts.  

centre ©xu zhi

Repeating motifs echo repeating shapes and lattice effects in contemporary architecture.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

Did basketry come first or did the creative textile come first. Whichever it is they both have a hand crafted yet hugely modern vibe.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

Straight and manipulated bentwood lines make both the lived in environment and influence on the worn indigo clothing chic and simply modern.

ARCHITEXTURE: Strictly in Blue

Indigo geometry is enjoying a renaissance influenced by the harder stuff which surrounds us.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

Indigo prints and jacquards were much used and loved in South Asian and South American culture when their origins were from historical ornament.  Again we use the same jacquard ornamentation but now influenced by a more contemporary environment.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

Tiles and patterns match in indigo.  strict patterns work for clean cut indigo pieces.

More complex jacquards in double faced and quilted cloths give the distinct impression of architectural origins. For structured simply cut jackets to showcase the pattern and fabric without interference of the stonewash effect.

L-R: ©Used Magazine ©Issy Miyake 

Varying scales and different weights in indigo patterns layered for intrigue.  Technical fibres and fabrics combined with geometry have a strictness which emanates from architecture as an influence. Issy Miyake is one of the most inventive exponents of such layered geometric statements.

TREND ALERT - ARCHITEXTURE : Archi Influences

This simple trend showcases bold statements in indigo "clothing" rather than just jeans.   The purity of organic indigo sits in harmony alongside organic and brutalist creative architectural shapes, lines and spaces.

Composite Image ©TheDenimEye

Lines and cellular structures which divide spaces likewise divide indigo shapes and complex layers.  The use of zippers is an important hardwear feature to echo shutters and building grids.

L-R: ©Topman Design ©Yvonne Laufer

Contemporary structured cuts outs in denim clothing echo the same from the built environment.  Geometric shapes in rigid denim which will be dry cleaned to retain its crispness.

L-R: ©Osman ©Anrealage

Stripes, lines, tucks and diagonal twists look new in indigo and strictly essential in our surroundings.

What's interesting about the link between architecture and denim clothing is the stiffness of denim fabric before cutting and washing and its ability to be tailored into strict shapes for a new wave of strict casual smart denim - a move on from casual chic jeanswear.

Blue—Blu—Blau—Blue: Blue Tribes

Indigo blue has been an iconic shade for hundreds of years but not until indigo garments were worn as uniform by  artisans, workers and more recently massed youth has a colour been so associated with groups or human tribes.  

©Legrand.C. (2103) Indigo: the Colour that Changed the World.

The uniformity of indigo blue once decreed by governments of China and Japan to render the worker faceless is now worn by affluent tribes of denim wearers. 

The 20th century saw indigo denim become the fabric and garment of rebellion against authority by the youth of the day. The tribal uniform was 5 pocket blue jeans proclaiming the wearer to be part of a freedom tribe.  Today the blue tribe is more diverse.  From the young  wearer of the simple jean to the more affluent sporting higher and higher priced brands of indigo denim. 

©Friedrichs.H, (2014) Denim Style

Indigo blues as well as being diverse in shade are also diverse in wearer style from old western influence 5 pocket jeans and trucker jackets to mariner blues which nod to the indigo jeans of the sailors from Nimes.   Whatever the influence it is the indigo blue shade that creates the recognisable tribe of wearers.

©The Vintage Showroom (2016) Worn

From the uniform of Japanese and Chinese workers we come full circle to modern workstyle as a fashion statement - basic simple and blue. The garment is minimal in detail with blue being the galvanising feature.

Rock 'n roll tribes synonymous with blue jeans exploded onto the scene with Woodstock in the late sixties.  Both anonymity and rebellion were the motivators of the need to look uniform and carefree, the blue jean answered the need.

©Marsh.G, Trynka.P (2002), DENIM from Cowboys to Catwalks, A visual history of the world's most legendary fabric.

Rock bands and their tribes of followers are still in blue jeans - the colour blue is as key to anonymity and uniformity as is the denim jean.   Even if the jeans were made from another blue cotton "with attitude" the tribe would still be cool. 

Blue—Blu—Blau–Bleu : Differentiated Blues

Blue takes on a variety of differentiated hues depending on the host material. In this case the glass diffuses light casting red, russet, yellow to aqua to green.    This range of shades which originate from blue is parallel to the different shades of indigo blue achieved with the natural ageing process of an indigo dyed garment. 

Naturally aged vintage indigo garments cast green; clear reddish blue;  brown and rust depending on the conditions of wear the fabric has been exposed to.

©The Vintage Showroom (2016) Worn

Rich red casted deepest indigo is the shade that denim jeans start with before they wear down naturally. when first rinsed the indigo is a rich dense shade and within weeks of wear with no wash the garment takes on the wear creases of the individual making it totally personal.  With further wear the garment and shade become brighter and even more personal.

This indigo denim garment clearly started life as indigo.  The evolution from dark indigo to such a rich brown red stain gives the garment a unique history.  It could be a result of soil stained hands where the soil contains iron sulphate or indeed another story - the possible reasons add to the charm.   

 Images l-r ©Marsh.G, Trynka.P (2002), DENIM from Cowboys to Catwalks, A visual history of the world's most legendary fabric. ©The Vintage Showroom (2016) Worn.

Positive green casted indigos are very special and very unusual.    The indigo can of course be overdyed or tinted green or it can be chemically treated to cast the shade to look naturally greenish.   Bringing out the green cast from the indigo dye is more easy with a naturally plant based dye.

Green casted indigos are almost aqua in appearance.  Slight greenish cast can also be achieved with brown or yellow tinting which replicates the natural dirty wear a garment has achieved in previous life.

Blue—Blu—Blau–Bleu : Vintage Indigos

Indigo blue may seem an ordinary colour to most but when in a pair of pre-loved worn in denim jeans it becomes something else entirely.   The cast, mostly reddish, becomes even brighter as the garment is more frequently washed due to the bleach lightening effect on the indigo dye.  Provided that is, the garment has not been tinted during its life.

As the colour wears off the top of the weave twill line it leaves the impression of a darker blue valley between the twill lines but that is illusory. The valley (weft) is in fact white, the reality is the indigo is sticking to the twill sides giving an almost 3D effect to the vintage fabric.   Likewise, the warp slubs will lose their indigo dye more quickly after wearing and bleaching creating another dimension.

©The Vintage Showroom (2015) Worn

Vintage indigos in very old worn in jeans will retain their depth of shade and brightness in the body forming creases leaving worn out patches stained with hand grease.  It is effects such as these which we in the business of indigo denim try to replicate when creating a "new" pair of indigo denim jeans.

©Di Battista.A My Archive

Another worn in effect is to artificially remove the indigo by creasing the garment before subjecting it to a scrape or stonewash. The tumbling action combined with pumice stones in the washing machine lifts off the indigo dye from the prominent areas and if bleach is also added then the indigo shade becomes brighter as it washes down.

The allure of a beautiful worn in indigo denim garment cannot be replicated in any other item of apparel.

©Di Battista.A My Archive

The gradual loss of the indigo dye reveals the character of the fabric underneath combining it with wear marks from at least one maybe more, previous wearers.     Well preserved real vintage bright indigo garments have a history and richness that is impossible to replicate.

Blue—Blu—Blau–Bleu : Blue Decoration

In centuries past when hand spinning, hand dyeing and hand painting onto textiles was all part of the clothing process traditional decoration also played a big part.  It was a way in which the local creative culture was expressed.  Traditional motifs were repeated time and again as "stories" on various parts of the garment.  Such motifs all had their different meanings and significance with the provenance of the garment being identifiable by its hand drawn motifs.   India, China, Africa, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam, Central America  all had motifs specifically recognisable to their country and region.

©Legrand.C. (2103) Indigo: the Colour that Changed the World.

Tie dye was and still is traditionally mostly Indonesian, Japanese and Chinese. Although as a hand craft it is taught today in some Western Schools. However the originals created by skilled artists are superior in both technique and complexity. Such craft artists are able to achieve the most intricate patterns layer upon layer.  These skills were handed down the generations such that the resultant fabrics can now command immense prices.

Hand drawing onto fabric using indigo paste was likewise done by tribal artists of great skill.  Motifs were naif and charming. Some were merely decorative and some had greater cultural significance.

©Balfour-Paul.J. (2011) Indigo: Egyptian Mummies to Blue Jeans

Batik is an Indo Chinese art and craft still practised today and immensely popular but very little is achieved in pure indigo as indigo washes down and out too quickly and is costly to produce.

The craft of batik is created using hot wax for the drawing after which the cloth is dyed. The dye is resisted by the wax which, when the cloth is washed the wax dissolves leaving the pattern as the base colour.  This of course can be repeated using different shades of overdye such that a multi level pattern is achieved.  Today it is multicoloured using non natural dyes. The Indigo examples from previous centuries have a simple intricate beauty the motifs of which tell a multitude of stories.  They of course are collectors pieces.

©Legrand.C. (2103) Indigo: the Colour that Changed the World.

Block printing with indigo, and of course other natural dyes, being another simple craft which when combined with Batik achieves a rich combination of patterns where it is the shade that unites - in this case the rich blue of indigo.   It is interesting to see the traditional motifs used in both building decoration as well as to adorn the body in textiles.

There is something very special about hand crafted decorated textiles in mono colour, particularly blue.  Blue being a dominant shade for decoration dominant in every country in the near and far east because of the tradition of indigo dyeing.  Juxtapositions of Block print and batik patterns are timeless.