Blue is a common dye in clothing or textiles. There is the centuries-old and very popular blue denim, the royal blue of the British monarchy or the blue in national flags. But have you ever wondered where the blue color came from and the current status of  indigo dye in the country?

Philippine indigo (Indigofera tinctoria) is one of the oldest dyes in civilization and one of the most widely used natural dyes in the world due to its excellent colorfastness properties. Actually, it was once extensively used in the weaving industry in the country, such as in the abel of Ilocos and the Abrenian fabrics.

The Philipine indigo has been part of the galleon and Chinese trade in northern Philippines centuries ago. However, the production of cheaper synthetic indigo eased it out of the market and caused its rapid decline, not only in the country but all over the world.

In the Philippines, former First Lady Amelita “Ming” Ramos initiated the revival of indigo dyeing. She became the patroness of natural dyes and spearheaded the Katutubong Kulay Project of the Katutubong Filipino Foundation in the early ’90s.

The transfer and commercialization of the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI)-developed technology on indigo in Abra revived and upgraded the age-long tradition of using tayum, the local name of indigo in Abra. In fact, a town in Abra was aptly named Tayum, reportedly because of the abundance of naturally growing indigo in the place. Tayum is where Abra’s Natural Dye Center is located.

Among the PTRI technologies on natural dyes, indigo is the most commonly requested for dyeing services and prototyping by interested clients. Indigo in textile silkscreen printing has, likewise, broadened the horizon for the developed indigo powder.

The versatility of indigo as a dye and as a pigment for printing provides the impetus for the continued advocacy in popularizing Philippine indigo in local and international textile scene.

Indigo is among the four priority natural-dye sources in the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARD)-assisted Department of Science and Technology-Grants in Aid (DOST-GIA) project at the Aklan State University (ASU). An area in the campus yields sufficient fresh indigo plant, which can already be used as crude liquid dye. Its powder-form counterpart, however, yields even deeper and darker shades.

PTRI is continuously undertaking process improvement in the production of indigo powder not only for dyeing but also for textile printing. The PCARRD-PTRI-ASU project also enables PTRI to help identify cultural-management practices suitable for indigo growing through the assessment of the indigo powder and the evaluation of the dyed materials.

Soumak Collection, which is currently operating PTRI’s Natural Dye Center in a technology business incubation arrangement, is another recipient of the Institute’s indigo technologies. The growing demand of Soumak Collection for indigo prompted ASU to plant an initial one-hectare area inside its Banga Campus. Seedlings have already germinated and will be ready for transplanting in a few weeks. With this business arrangement, the commercial revival of indigo dyeing is bound to stir the market.

Kingsmen Corp., likewise, launched its Bahaghari Collection. The premium collection, developed with PTRI, showcases its new line of colored piña barong, including indigo dyed, to yield blue to deep blue shades, and green.

Mariana Fashion Apparels, maker of Miguel Barongs, likewise, launched its kaLIKHAsan Collection, featuring ready-to-wear barong that are available in shopping malls.

Fil-Am fashion designer Anthony Cruz Legarda and his Arkiteknik Collection has also included blue in his Fall 2008 Collection. It will feature the splendor of Philippine fabrics like piña-seda and piña in one of the fashion capitals of the world, New York, with Philippine indigo and other natural dyes, in collaboration with PTRI.

The blue from indigo has high-colorfastness ratings on piña, piña-silk, abaca, Philippine silk and cotton, to name a few. Later, conquering Europe is inevitable since the quality of Philippine indigo is on a par with, if not better than, that from Japan, Korea and India among many countries with indigo traditions.

PTRI’s relentless research and development efforts in reviving natural dyes in a more scientific approach stirred the interest of local hand weavers, high-end enterprises and fashion designers which opened doors, showcasing and revealing the majestic and wide ranges of blue color from Philippine indigo and rightfully become the crowning glory of the country’s natural dyes. It is hoped that this would catalyze the emergence and spectral rise of the natural dye industry in the Philippines. (Julius L. Leaño/PTRI)

Scientists have, for the first time, determined the order of virtually every letter of DNA code in an individual, offering an unprecedented readout of the separate genetic contributions made by that person’s mother and father.

RP has plenty to learn from India on ‘Bt’ cotton

The Philippines may learn a lot from India’s experience in managing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton and thus boost the farm sector through agricultural biotechnology.

Bluer than blue: The revival of Philippine indigo dye

Blue is a common dye in clothing or textiles. There is the centuries-old and very popular blue denim, the royal blue of the British monarchy or the blue in national flags. But have you ever wondered where the blue color came from and the current status of  indigo dye in the country?

Government-Mama Sita tie up in crop research

Mothers and cooks are undoubtedly very familiar with this brand of kitchen mixes and sauces. This time, however, the name Mama Sita will not be found only in kitchens. It is also now in crop research.