History Of Natural Indigo

India has a long history of over 3000 years with Indigo and generations have passed the know how of Indigo dyeing to their descendants and the knowledge is still being pursued by few artisan families in different parts of India.Indigo’s name gives its origin away: it simply means ‘the Indian’ or ‘from India.’ But we now know that, besides India, indigo was also used in tropical zones in Africa and China. Our ancestors in India, East Asia and Egypt, as well as probably the Maya, used the blue dye derived from the Indigofera Tinctoria plant to dye their clothes. The oldest known fabric dyed indigo dating to 6,000 years ago was discovered in 2009 at Huaca Prieta, Peru.India was a primary supplier of indigo to Europe as early as the Greco-Roman era and Indigo was also a part of India’s freedom struggle as last year we celebrated the centenary year of the Champaran Satyagraha, when Mahatma Gandhi highlighted the woeful plight of Indian farmers who had been forced to cultivate indigo by the British.

Origins Of Natural Indigo

Many plants have been identified as potentially rich in natural dye content and some of them have been used for natural dyeing for quite some time. Normally natural dyes are extracted from roots, stems, leaves , flowers and fruit of various plants. In living Indigo plant form , indigo exists as a colourless substance comprised of sugars and indoxyl. Indigo’s seed treatments contain microbes that live within plant tissue, unlike existing microbial seed treatments that contain microbes that live around the roots. Highest yield of indigo dye was obtained from using 2.0 sodium hydroxide solution.

The process of extracting blue colour from green leaves of indigo plant is magical and unique. It involves steps, to be carried out with great timing. The indigo pigment gets detached from glucose as the leaves are soaked in water and fermented. The leaves are taken out , leaving indigo white in the water, which when exposed to air gives out the blue colour. This blue colour of indigo remains hidden until the leaf of indigo plant is fermented. After the water is whisked properly, the blue colour settles down forming watery clay. This sludge is then heated or sundried to be made in to cakes.The indigo seed is sown about the end of February or beginning of March, it germinate in the course of four to five days and at the middle of June the plant can obtained a height between 3 and 5 feet and has a stem of about a quarter of an inch in diameter as the plant grows. The coloring principle gradually increases until it reaches a maximum about the end of August.

Synthetic Indigo

Demand for indigo dramatically increased during the industrial revolution, in part due to the popularity of Levi Strauss’s blue denim jeans. The natural extraction process was expensive and could not produce the mass quantities required for the burgeoning garment industry. So chemists began searching for synthetic methods of producing the dye. In 1883 Adolf Von Bayer (of Bayer aspirin fame) researched indigo’s chemical structure. He found that he could treat omega-bromoacetanilide with an alkali (a substance that is high in pH) to produce oxindole. Later, based on this observation, K. Heumann identified a synthesis pathway to produce indigo. Within 14 years their work resulted in the first commercial production of the synthetic dye. In 1905 Bayer was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery.

The synthesis of N-(2-carboxyphenyl) glycine from the easy to obtain aniline provided a new and economically attractive route. BASF developed a commercially feasible manufacturing process that was in use by 1897, at which time 19,000 tons of indigo were being produced from plant sources. By 1914 this had dropped to 1,000 tons by 1914 and continued to contract. In last few decades the usage of Natural Indigo dye has almost finished. However, there is a resurgence in the interest in the natural indigo and going over next few years we are likely to see much more manufacturing being done with Natural Indigo.

Natural Indigo Scarves From Denimsandjeans

The scarves will come out with a small presentable pouch (also blue color !) and in different designs. An excellent gift for someone who loves Natural Indigo ! As a launch initiative, we are also giving limited number of coupon codes INDIGO9 which will help save $9 – but only for very few numbers.

Check out our site at – https://www.shop.denimsandjeans.com and look out for some more surprises !
We will be very happy to receive any feedbacks that you may give us on this new initiative ..

Athleisure :Clothing that combines athletic wear and leisurewear and go seamlessly from the workplace to the gym, from sitting to skipping,from meetings to marching ,from party to office and includes a whole lot of wear gear including yoga pants, leggings,. The Athleisure trend is catching on , specially in the US. As per NPD group , US, the sale of activewear including yoga pants , leggings etc climbed 7% for year ended June 2014 to $33 billion. For the same period , the sale of Jeans in US dropped 6% .

While the shift to the Athleisure clothing has been happening for many years now, it looks like it might get more pronounced now with comfort factor becoming more important for consumers. Many retailers including Macy’s, Foot Locker Inc., Gap Inc.’s Old Navy and Under Armour Inc have been witnessing propelling sales thanks to more Americans wearing workout-style gear whether they’re working out or not. An increasing number of women are sporting yoga and dressy sweat pants , for men hoodies are becoming more common . Retailers like Gap pushed further to take advantage of this trend by increasing their Athleta sales and increasing the number of stores (expected to cross 100) , Urban Outfitters, Macy’s and many other retailers are pushing deeper into the category.

So what does all this mean for denim industry ? Does it mean that the Athleisure trending will affect the sales of denim adversely?. Denim is a very broad category and covers most segments of the population and across all genres and ages. It also has presence in the active wear category and with technological advancements, it is pushing further into this category. The popularity of super stretches with over 60% elasticity are a testament to denim making inroads here. But still denim is not a complete match when it comes to the properties of activewear and leisurewear. The industry needs to put in more efforts to bring denim to a higher level and give a stronger competition to such products. Industry wide innovations and developments are needed to take denim and its fight to increase market share to next level.

Most of us know and love Sevens Jeans. They are the pioneers in the premium denim segment and have won millions of hearts. with their great jeans – fit , finish , fabric et al.

Sevens , now owned by VF , came out with their first sale last year . There were over 10,000 people who went to the sale and it was a huge rush with long queues outside the venue . The second sale is now due in a couple of weeks and if you are a denim lover , this is not an event to miss.

Warehouse people, who are organizing the sale , were kind enough to offer VIP passes to our readers . These passes basically give access to the sale on the first day when very limited number of invitees are allowed in and you might even find some celebrities in the ‘Denim Lounge’ .

Our readers can get 10 VIP passes for the New York Sale and 10 VIP passes for the Los Angeles Sale . To get a VIP pass, just leave a comment below with your email address and also the city name (New York or LA) for which you need it and we will ensure the pass reaches you . PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMPLETE FIRST AND LAST NAME AND IT WILL BE ENTERED IN A LIST NEAR THE DOOR TO THE SALE..Remember, it is on a First Come First Served basis . So , be fast and do not be left standing in the long queues as people were last year .

For a limited time only! Get 25% off regularly priced Gap merchandise. Enter GIFT123 at check out. Shop now while supplies last!

Looking to buy a Gap 1969 jeans or any other product online ? Just use the above link and the code GIFT123 and you can avail of the discount. Some conditions mentioned below apply :

Restrictions:

• Offer valid from November 17, 2009 at 12:00 a.m. ET through November 22, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. ET in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico) on regularly priced Gap merchandise purchased online only.
• Not valid at Gap stores and Gap Outlet. Not valid on Gap (PRODUCT) REDâ„¢, Junk Foodâ„¢, Converse®, Robeez®, Havaianas®, CharmIt!®, Medela®, Stella McCartney for GapKids/babyGap, or babyGap home (Nursery & Gear) merchandise (bedding, blankets, strollers, car seats, high chairs, diaper bags, toys, books, nursery décor, dishware, bath accessories, nursing accessories, bibs, and skincare).
• Discount applies to merchandise only, not value of GiftCards purchased, packaging, applicable taxes, or shipping & handling charges.
• Online code is limited to one time use only. Not valid for cash or cash equivalent. No adjustments on previous purchases. Cannot be combined with other offers or discounts. Offer is not transferable. Gap Inc. is not responsible for lost or stolen coupons.