New biosynthetic dyes for cotton & cellulose based fabrics

27 Feb '15

2 min read

Archroma has come up with a range of biosynthetic dyes for cotton and cellulose based fabrics called Earthcolors. The rich red, brown and green colours for denim and casualwear are derived from agricultural waste products like almond shells, saw palmetto, rosemary leaves and other natural products that would otherwise have been sent to landfills.

Sustainability is a key motivating factor in technological innovations available to textile mills and brand owners, and a demand for more eco-conscious fashion is impacting developments in the textile chemicals business, Alexander Wessels, CEO of Archroma, a global colours and specialty chemicals company told fibre2fashion.com.

Consumers are also asking for transparency and traceability of products used in clothing. To help address this, Archroma will put all the information about individual batches of colour from the Earthcolors range on the tags attached to each item of clothing. Each tag incorporates a chip with all the information on it. That information can be accessed by the prospective buyer in a shop using the near field communications (NFC) technology in their phone. “We believe that this is the first time NFC is being used in this way,” he said.

Talking about the latest trends in denim dyeing, Wessels emphasised that innovation is a key factor for new colours, effects, and handles. Within this, there is a growing focus on sustainability of dyes and the dyeing process. Designers are playing around with wash-down techniques to apply spectacular “local” effects and contrasts. There is also a definite interest in creating a more natural look than possible with conventional pigment colouring. In terms of latest colour trends, the last year saw a demand for orchid tones. Now earth colours that are rich red, brown and green are very much in vogue.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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