Indigo: The legend of colors that drives us crazy

Strongly bonded as twins

Denim is synonymous with indigo. Denim is indigo, and indigo is denim. They’re so strongly bonded to each other like us as twins. Indigo, our most beloved color. The legends of all colors. This deep dark blue tone is primarily known for coloring threads for pairs of jeans.

Moreover, indigo has this very special effect. When you wear your pair of Grivec Bros jeans the indigo color will leave the fabric after a while, but as a reward, fades are coming to the front. And, exactly these fades are the ones that we love. They’re the engine of our never-ending addiction to denim. The reason why we often say that we have blue blood running through our veins.

At Grivec Bros we have designed a unique indigo collection.

The origin of indigo

Originally, indigo is already used for centuries in countries as China, India, and Japan. The oldest known fabric dyed with indigo dates back to around 6,000 years ago. It was discovered in Peru. Different plants can be used to make blue indigo pigments, but the Indigofera Tinctoria is the queen of all time. This plant is known for its high-quality pigments that can be made of leaves.

The indigo process

Indigo-dyeing is the process of adding color to the yarns. It’s done by soaking the yarns in baths of indigo. When the threads are coming out of these baths they have a yellow/green-ish look, and soon when they come in contact with air (oxygen) they slowly turn blue. The more you will dye cotton threads in these indigo baths, the darker blue tones you can reach. This process is magical and explains also why indigo is nicknamed blue gold very often.

Natural indigo

Back in the days they only used natural indigo, but soon as the demand grew over time, with mass production, they switched to synthetic indigo too. A cheaper and less labor-intensive alternative using in production. Most of the garments today are colored with synthetic indigo.

The Grivec Bros Indigo collection is colored with natural indigo. The fact that they’re made with the authentic natural indigo-dye process makes them even more special.

Why jeans fade

As said, denim fades are our driving force. But, have you ever wondered where these fades are coming from? This is because indigo sticks only on the surface of cotton yarns during the dyeing process. The indigo molecule is too big to penetrate to the core of the thread. This means that the core stays white, even after multiple indigo dyeing. When you wear and wash your jeans, the indigo will leave the yarns, and the white core of the threads will be more visible. This ends up with those beautiful denim fades on your jeans.

Blue indigo hands

Our Grivec Bros. jeans are produced with the finest Japanese selvedge denim fabrics. Unwashed fabrics, so no laundries are involved and colored with pure natural indigo. This means also that the indigo can ‘bleed’ a bit during the first days or weeks of wear. This can lead to blue hands at the end of the day. But, hey, that’s exactly what’s so cool about an original pair of blue jeans made with natural indigo dye. The color that makes our hearts beat faster, but also changed the world!