JAPAN BLUE｜AI, Japanese Indigo and AIZOME

IKI LUCA's blue comes from 100% indigo dyeing, it's from AI, Japanese indigo.

The blue colors of a skirt, TSUTA-SKIRT | JAPAN BLUE, and dresses TSUTA DRESS | JAPAN BLUE（SHIMA）& （MUJI）, come from Japanese indigo dyeing, called AIZOME in Japan. Fabrics are traditional Japanese textiles, Kurume Kasuri 100% woven by Shimogawa Orimono (Yame City, Fukuoka Prefecture). When Shimogawa Orimono weaves AIZOME fabrics, they ask IKED KASURI  TEXTILE to dye threads with Japanese indigo, AI. They hand-dye threads using 100% natural Japanese indigo, AWA AI from Tokushima Prefecture. 

Compared to chemical dyeing which makes threads or fabrics colored quickly and well, hand-dyeing with natural indigo takes some time. They dip a bundle of yarn in a large pot of indigo solution and pull it up. Then squeeze the bundle and expose the threads to air (the indigo and oxygen react to produce the blue color at this moment!) The processes are repeated over and over again, which creates beautiful deep indigo-blue color. It is Japan Blue!

It seems that AI, Japanese indigo has a variety of benefits; relaxing effects due to its fragrance, as well as an insect repellent, sterilizing, and deodorizing effects. That's why people in Japan have loved to dye their precious clothes with AI, Japanese indigo since early times. It is also said that AIZOME, Japanese indigo dyeing, makes threads/fabrics more durable, as the dye adheres to the threads/fabrics as if coating them.