Kyoko Wakita is an artist based in Tokyo where she operates her brand “salida”, which produces apparel using traditional Japanese arts and crafts, such as natural indigo and mud dyeing from the Amami Islands in Kagoshima prefecture. With yoga as the theme of their life’s work, they aim to create not only yoga wear, but also clothing that is comfortable and fun to wear while doing yoga. These products are sold at vegan restaurants around Tokyo.
Salida’s products
Oshima Tsumugi
Amami Oshima’s traditional Oshima Tsumugi is widely known as a high-end silk fabric. Its deep and vibrant black-brown colour is achieved through a dyeing process called “mud dyeing,” where natural plants native to Amami are used to dye the threads by soaking them in mud. This process utilises a chemical bond between tannic acid pigments found in the Rosaceae tree “Sharinbai” and iron found in the mud. By repeatedly dyeing the fiber, such as silk or cotton, it transforms into a durable and deep black colour. It is said that this dyeing technique, which was already being carried out during the mid-Edo period, was discovered by accident when a person forgot (or hid) a dyed kimono made through natural plant dyes in a rice paddy, and when they later went to retrieve it, it had turned into a beautiful black colour.
Mud dyeing
Mud dyeing is a technique originally used to dye the threads of Amami Oshima Tsumugi, a traditional craft of the Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan.
The process begins by taking the Tetchi wood (Sharinbai) from a plant in the Rosaceae family native to the island and chipping it into small pieces.
The wood is then boiled and the resulting dye is used to dye the threads while monitoring factors like climate, time, and product status.
Once the product is dyed a brown color from the Tetchi wood, it is placed into a muddy field and dyed once again.
This process is repeated several times until the product is dyed a unique and deep black-brown color that can only be achieved by mud dyeing.
Mud dyeing is a technique that has been produced through the combination of nature’s grace and human history and cannot be replicated with chemical dyes.
If you’re interested in Oshima Tsumugi, click the link below to watch a short video from the NHK: “A Treasured Creation: The Master Weavers of Amami”.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/video/3019161/
Do not repost without permission.