Review Indigo People Michi Shirt
Brand: Indigo People
Product name: Michi Shirt
Materials: 100% cotton, natural Indigo
Made in: Indonesia
Price: € 145,00
Soon available at: http://indigopeople.com/
General information
Indigo People is born out of the love for authentic craftsmanship and the beauty of natural indigo. Every single piece is handcrafted and dyed in natural indigo by passionate artisans following their long traditions. Their brand name is a tribute to people who love traditional craftsmanship and natural indigo, and the artisans who keep these alive. The logo is a mixed style of east and west, which embodies their spirit. Indigo People was founded in 2013 by Kiat Yen and Johan van de Berg.
Learn more about Indigo People and read our interview with co-founder Kiat Yen here.
Construction
The Michi shirt is a slim fit shirt and is made from a fine Indonesian twill cotton. The cutting and sewing of the shirt is solidly finished by a small Indonesian local workshop. The subtle stitching is sewn with a dark blue thread, which is very discrete on this indigo dyed shirt. The dark blue thread is, in our opinion, the right choice because of the natural indigo spots on the shirt. Otherwise, it would be too much.
The shirt is dyed in a traditional Indonesian way, namely; Batik.
Batik is either created by hand drawing with the resist wax with a sprouted tool called ‘canting’, or by printing the melted wax with a handmade copper stamp or silk screen. The wax blocks the dyestuff to penetrate into the textile. Then the cloth is dipped piece by piece multiple times in natural indigo by hand, to achieve the deep indigo color. To remove the printed wax, the cloth is boiled in hot water. Once the wax is removed the printed area regains its raw color and the artwork appears on the textile.
Details
Natural indigo dye
The natural indigo used to dye the Michi shirt, is worth mentioning. The natural indigo has a lot of impurities, which result in color variations on the fabric. These impurities give the fabric character and result in so many different shades of blue. On top of that, Indigo People printed a beautiful light / dark blue pattern all over the shirt with traditional Indonesian Batik.
Chest pocket
While Indigo People kept the design of their Michi shirt very clean, they’ve placed a pocket on the left chest. The pocket is attached on the inside of the shirt and can be closed with a white button. The button is, just like the other buttons, made of shelf.
Wooden ‘Indigo People’ tag
The Wooden tag with the inscription; ‘Indigo People’ fits perfectly into the story of the brand. All natural, all produced at small local workshops throughout Asia. Indigo People’s way of production keeps the environmental pollution to its minimum.
Production
The shirt is produced on a small scale by a local sewing workshop in Pekanlogan, Indonesia. Pekanlogan is known to be one of the biggest Batik cities in Indonesia.
Indigo People supports small local business to help the artisans maintain their traditions and develop their business. Due to the manual production process, each product can only be produced in a limited amount.
Materials
The Michi shirt is made from a 100% cotton fine twill from an Indonesian mill. The cotton is unbleached and unprocessed and is manually spun, which results in unevenness in the yarns. The fabric has a soft feel and is totally absorbed with natural Indigo.
To dye the fabric, Indigo People has chosen to use natural indigo, cultivated in Indonesia. Natural indigo has a lot of impurities, compared to synthetic indigo, which result in color variations on the fabric. Natural indigo is more expensive than synthetic indigo because it is more difficult to produce.
Learn more about Indigo.
Care
Indigo People’s Michi shirt is pre-washed, which means that an initial soak isn’t needed. The shrinkage as well as most of the indigo bleeding is reduced to its minimum, due to the Batik method. The natural indigo isn’t fixed or treated with chemicals so, just like your jeans, it will bleed at first, but after its first wash the bleeding will cease.
Despite the bleeding ceasing after its first wash, we advise you to be careful with other clothes and furniture.
Conclusion
Indigo People’s Michi shirt is the perfect shirt for the ultimate indigo lovers. The shirt is dyed with 100% natural indigo by Indonesian craftsmen following their traditions. The design of the Michi shirt is very minimal, but the Batik printed blue shades make this shirt an eye-catcher. On top of that, the way the shirt is made is a story that grabbed us… Produced on a small scale by a local workshop in Indonesia and made out of all natural products only.
Normally, we only wear clean, basic shirts on top of our jeans, but this shirt is an addition to our range of shirts, especially for the coming hot summer nights.
Indigo People’s Michi shirt comes with a price of €145, which is a fair price for a limited natural indigo dyed shirt.
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