Ladies dress Neel 16

Indigo is a plant that’s been around for ages and is used for making that iconic blue dye.

It’s a shrub that grows in tropical and subtropical areas, and it’s thought to have started in India. From there, the dyeing process spread to Southeast Asia, then to the Middle East, parts of Africa, and eventually made its way over to America.

There are a bunch of different types of indigo plants around the world, too. The most well-known one is Indigofera tinctoria—that’s the one that’s been used the most for dyeing. It’s native to India, but it’s grown all over the place. Then there’s Indigofera arrecta, which you’ll find in Africa, and Indigofera suffruticosa, which is more common in the Americas.

STORY OF JOURNEYS

Injiri, meaning “real India”, historically stands for “real Madras checkered textiles” which were exported to West Africa back in the 18th century.

Injiri clothing is inspired by traditional garment designs of India. Working from her studio in Jaipur, Chinar Farooqui has developed a network of hand-loom collectives across India, from Gujarat to West Bengal who work with organic cottons and natural dyes to produce a range of exquisite handmade textiles to achieve textures and patterns that tells a story of the place they originate from – the story is finally told in form of a piece of “injiri”.