Adire is a tie and dye fabric made in southern Nigeria mainly by the Yoruba tribe. It uses the natural indigo dye from plant extracts to achieve the blue colour. Interestingly blue is not a colour that is occurs often naturally.
Indigo dye was also used in the production of denim for jeans so I thought it would be interesting to bring these two fabrics together in one item. One is quite modern and the other traditional and both are from very different parts of the world.
The dyeing techniques are quite interesting as they involve threading, stitching and tying the fabric similar to the Japanese Shibori methods of tie and dye.
Indigo dye was also used in the production of denim for jeans so I thought it would be interesting to bring these two fabrics together in one item. One is quite modern and the other traditional and both are from very different parts of the world.
The dyeing techniques are quite interesting as they involve threading, stitching and tying the fabric similar to the Japanese Shibori methods of tie and dye.
Looking through books and images, there are so many similarities between some of the traditional Japanese fabrics and the Nigerian ones I grew up wearing. I really like the patterns and colours of traditional Japanese fabrics and their design ethos in general come to think of it. I will be looking more into their traditional design culture in future posts.
Are you a fan of blue or indigo? If so, please share some links. Thanks!
