I recently received a SLOWCOLOR scarf and I love it! Clothes should make us feel comfortable and good about how we look. I know when I wear something that has a rich story behind it, and I know with certainty, was made in a way that benefited the lives of all who took part in the process, I feel even better!
SLOWCOLOR, created by Sanjay Rajan, is a social enterprise focusing on premium, fairly-traded, eco-textile products. The collection includes fashion accessories and home furnishings, handmade and naturally dyed by weaver cooperatives based in Hyderabad, India. SLOWCOLOR rejuvenates centuries-old fabric dyeing techniques and handlooming traditions, protects the environment and creates fabrics that are healthy for life. SLOWCOLOR connects artisan to audience, tradition to global market and health of the planet to consumer choice. SLOWCOLOR is an Ethical Fashion Forum Fellow, a Green America approved business and is on its way to being a certified B-corp. The collection is currently sold in over 60 boutiques across the US and internationally in Japan and Taiwan.
The company supports artisans in India by providing a life-changing living wage, using natural plant and mineral-based dyes and mordants and choosing fibers such as linen that grow naturally pesticide free and are not water intensive.
SLOWCOLOR’s current fashion accessories include scarves, wraps and pareos/sarongs. The home furnishings line includes throws and blankets. Future products in fashion will be bottom up shirts, skirts, and camisoles. The home collection will introduce bedding, tableware, towels for kitchen and bath, shower curtains and bath mats. The line is made from 100% natural yarns in linen and cotton and carries the Handloom India Mark and GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) organic certification for cotton.
The Indigofera tinctoria plant produces blues while palm sugar combined with rusty nails and jathropa produces blacks and grays, Indian madder root produces roses and reds and pomegranate rind produces yellows and greens. Fibers are dyed before weaving, achieving color that is consistent with striking patterns.
Check out their website at SLOWCOLOR.com
