Wilden Tales: the color revolution by Paola Barzanò

Creating natural products is like sowing a seed, from which knowledge and passion can sprout. And it is precisely by starting from the little old things that moves my research, which resulted in the creation of a capsule collection designed specifically to convey the values in which I believe.

In fact, the small textile collection designed for Wilden.herbals was born out of sharing the values of respect and love for nature and theenvironment and the desire to convey the energy that comes from the colors extracted from dyeing plants and natural textile fibers. My passion is one that started many years ago when I began designing my first natural textile collection. I chose fabrics and yarns of plant origin such as linen, hemp, organic cotton, and of animal origin such as wool and silk, and looked for colors in line with the natural identity I wanted to give to my collection. I thus discovered a fascinating world, that of natural colors, and I decided to learn how to handle them and dye with dye plants to really get to know the raw materials I was selecting. Natural color thus became the hallmark of my collections and the center of my life.

The right time to dye has come in summer. I had read about a South Tyrolean lady, a pioneer in sustainability, spinning wool from her sheep in a beautiful valley in South Tyrol, Val d’Ultimo, and I went to visit her. It was love at first sight: she spun her wool and dyed it with wild plants from the area. The following day my experimentation began, my long journey of discovering natural colors, always in the making. The hand-spun raw wool day after day was colored with the yellow of reseda, the brick-red tones of madder, the blue of indigo, the purple of campwood, and shades of greens. I dyed each skein in a different color, and in a few days I had a color palette that was very interesting in its heterogeneity. I found myself knitting many squares of wool in different colors, which I combined into a wonderful blanket.

For Wilden.herbals I chose three energetic and relaxing color tones and fabrics made of organic cotton and hemp, which are durable and very pleasant.

Orange:

• annatto (bixa orellana).

Orange is a stimulating color and gives a lot of energy. It promotes appetite and conviviality.

Red:

• madder(Rubia tinctorum)
• Brazil redwood(Caesalpinia species)

Red is the color of life and will, passion and strength.

Blue:

• ford(Isatis tinctoria)
• indigo (Indigofera species)

Blue is the color of tranquility and reflection. It slows down our pulse and breath and induces a pleasant feeling of calm.

Organic cotton: soft, breathable, durable

Hemp: durable, protects against electromagnetic pollution, cool in summer and warm in winter, has a low environmental impact due to reduced consumption of water, fertilizer and pesticides.

If reading these lines has made you want to dye, I will gladly be available to tell you about my experience, leading you step by step in dyeing natural textile fibers with dyeing plants, respecting these suspended times that mark our days. Organizing a home workshop for dyeing is very simple and will be the starting point for later working anywhere independently; from the kitchen to the terrace or in the garden. Immediate satisfaction is guaranteed, along with the pleasure of entering into a relationship with the colors that come from the biological cycle of nature, to which we also belong.

About me: I am a bio-architect with a long experience in materials sustainability, the true thread of my interdisciplinary experiences as a teacher and designer.
I currently teach Color Science in an international fashion school in Florence and collaborate with Wilden.herbals for the design and production of the textile collection, as well as following a research project on innovative materials from natural and renewable sources or circular economy.

Photo by Carolina Chini for Wilden.herbals, all rights reserved