From the Golden Triangle to Central America, varieties of the indigofera plant have been cultivated and used in textile production for centuries. While synthetic dyes have largely replaced the lengthy and somewhat cumbersome method used to create indigo—it takes nearly a year to make, from planting to harvest, and then it must be fermented—a select few global communities continue with the old way. In “Indigo: …
Maura Grace Ambrose is known chiefly as a sage of 21st-century quilting. From her home in Austin, Texas, the young Savannah College of Art and Design graduate hand-sews gorgeous, oversized quilts from scraps and new materials, injecting the traditional domestic craft with fresh life. Ambrose has just added a new series to the Folk Fibers portfolio with the indigo wholecloth collection, which uses dyes from …
The global citizens at LA’s Apolis have teamed up with J. Crew to produce a men’s boardshort in two limited colorways. The design takes a hint from California surfers of the 1960s, with a classic single pocket construction and broad horizontal stripe. For the fabric, Apolis founders Raan and Shea Parton and J. Crew men’s designer Frank Muytjens celebrated a mutual love of indigo with …
