Like the slow food movement, there is a ground swelling in the textile world for a slow movement of color. Fabrics that are woven with care and dyed with natural, non polluting materials, clothing that is moving away from fast fashion. Co-founder of Slow Color, Sanjay Rajan, was here in Boston last night making a personal appearance at Karma in Newton Center, a guest of the lovely Phuni Kim Meston.
Conscious consumers are looking for conscious companies that share their mission. SlowColor is committed to providing beautiful, fair traded clothing that is sustainable and created by hand loom weavers of India who receive a life-changing wage. Sanjay believes" indigo, pomegranates, and madder root are just a few of our gourmet color ingredients. After the line is woven on the hand loom, it may take days or even weeks to due a garment with natural dye, as opposed to a quick Chemical bath. The final result is a beautiful, non- toxic garment produced with respect for the earth, for those that produced it, and for those that wear it. "
Buying local is part of my mantra, but so is supporting artists and craftspeople around the world, especially those in traditional crafts. If you can find a local boutique in line with your values, who embraces fair trade and social justice, then I'm all about supporting them as well. Karma does just that, and you can rest assured that a purchase made from Phuni's store is going to bring you good Karma!
Karma is all about fusion, and the collection of guests, interested in sustainability and gorgeous textiles, furthered the idea of blending people and ideas of different backgrounds through cultural exchange. The store was filled with people interested in sustainability and the move away from fast fashion. Phuni provided a tasteful selection of traditional food that fed the lively conversation throughout the night.
The subtle color combination used in the natural dying technique were on display.
What are the chances of meeting someone who is producing clothing and scarves in a tiny village in India, that you just visited less than a month ago? Crazy, right!! This was a fateful meeting of designers with a simpatico vision of sustainable production combined with natural dying techniques.
Here are a few photos from my trip to Koyalagubem in February. My post about Natural weaving outside Hyderabad can be found here.
Spinners use recycled bicycle wheels to spin the threads.
Threads of many sizes spun and ready for the natural dying process.
Time consuming natural dying, here the color is taken from flowers.
I admit,I could not resist my scarf habit and happily indulged in the indigo beauty above.
Last night I had one of those experiences that felt like a moment in time when I was where I was supposed to be. Not to get too heady, but an alignment of vision was definitely in the house. It just felt like there was a reason I had gone to that particular village in all of India, Found natural dying techniques and questioned the sustainability of the weavers , and now my life was intersecting with another who was in that same place. I'm not sure exactally where I am heading with this, but feel for sure there is a path that I will in some way be traveling down. Rest assured, you'll be the first to know where it leads.
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