Indigo People AW17 - Pitti Uomo 91 Preview
Unlike what may be portrayed by the press coverage taking place at Pitti, part of the magic still happens inside the pavilions. Yes, there’s no denying that rendezvousing with long time friends at the Plaza and catching up over cigars is hard to beat, but when you’re faced with refreshing brands and unique designers, things tend to balance. Even though my time is scarcer from one edition to the next, namely due to streetstyle and meetings, I always leave at least a few hours to visit my favourite stands and discover new ones.
As you know, I tend to favor upcoming labels with strong vision and concepts and during recent editions, I have been pleasantly surprised. Besides Spingle Move and Haversack, I came across Indigo People: a beautifully put together brand concept with none other than superb results. As the name states, the brand revolves around the rawest nature of blue, the much coveted Indigo, but it goes way beyond that - it is actually one of the most interesting examples of sustainability and social responsibility I’ve seen in a fashion brand.
Bounded by their love of Indigo, founders Kiat and Johan set out to discover its purest form and most ancient uses. They travelled to remote communities to find unique craftsmanship techniques, passed on through generations, and teamed up with the most authentic artisans. The result is an array of superb garments and accessories that embody true craftsmanship and the beauty of unevenness that comes from handmade, traditional methods. This approach not only allows them to support “dying” techniques and know-how, but actually give something back to those communities by sharing the revenue from sales.
For AW17 Indigo People delivers a range of outstanding garments and accessories that portray the true nature of Indigo, through a series of techniques such as ikat weaving, batik printing and natural dyeing processes. Although these are not new per se, the methodologies used to achieve the final result are: as an example, see the carved wooden pieces on the last picture? These are handmade and then applied to fabrics to create exclusive patterned prints. Be sure to check their website for videos on each of these techniques and get hold of the pieces.