Harvest & Mill Men's Limited Artist Series: Sukumo Indigo: blue cotton t-shirt with ombre dip-dye effect transitioning from light to dark blue, laid flat on light background
Harvest & Mill Men's Limited Artist Series: Sukumo Indigo: close-up of deep blue fabric texture with subtle woven pattern and natural variations
Harvest & Mill Men's Limited Artist Series: Sukumo Indigo: folded blue cotton t-shirt with cream packaging band displaying brand name and organic cotton clothing text
Harvest & Mill Men's Limited Artist Series: Sukumo Indigo: folded blue cotton t-shirt displayed flat against white background
Harvest & Mill Men's Limited Artist Series: Sukumo Indigo: close-up of deep blue cotton t-shirt neckline showing fabric texture and brand label
Harvest & Mill Men's Limited Artist Series: Sukumo Indigo: close-up detail of deep blue cotton fabric showing ribbed neckline seam and texture
Harvest & Mill Men's Limited Artist Series: Sukumo Indigo: close-up of deep navy blue denim fabric corner with diagonal twill weave texture
Harvest & Mill Men's Limited Artist Series: Sukumo Indigo: close-up of deep blue indigo fabric with natural texture and folds

Men's Limited Artist Series: Sukumo Indigo

$115.00
$115.00
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Size: x-large

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Limited edition artist made, by Ricketts Indigo. Trained in traditional Japanese indigo growing, fermenting and dyeing techniques, Ricketts Indigo exists on the forefront of the resurgent interest in plant dyes. These shirts are truly wearable art.

Origins: Organic cotton grown in USA, yarn spun and knit in USA, sewn in the San Francisco Bay Area. Organic indigo grown, fermented and dyed by Ricketts Indigo in Indiana.

Questions? We would love to help hello@harvestandmill.com

The practice of Ricketts Indigo

Rowland and Chinami Ricketts use natural materials and traditional processes to create contemporary textiles. Chinami hand-weaves narrow width yardage for kimono and obi while Rowland hand-dyes textiles that span art and design. Together we grow all the indigo that colors our cloth, investing ourselves and our time in our textiles because we believe this way of working to be an essential part of the material’s integrity and authenticity.

Harvest & Mill: person's bare foot in lush green leafy plants and grass growing from dark soil

Persicaria tinctoria (indigo) grown organically by Ricketts Indigo.

Harvest & Mill: orange crate filled with fresh green leafy vegetables sits beside tilled garden soil with furrows

Indigo seedlings ready to be planted.

Our indigo (Persicaria tinctoria) begins its journey from seed to cloth in the early spring.  The seedlings are planted and nurtured in the field.

Harvest & Mill: hands holding dried green tea leaves or herbs, showing the natural texture and color of the product

Dried indigo leaves.

Harvest & Mill: Large pile of dark green mulch or compost material on concrete floor in garage with ladder and tools

Pile of indigo leaves ready for composting to start.

Harvest & Mill: Collection of beige canvas tote bags with dark square logo labels and fabric handles stacked together

After composting, sukumo is bagged.

When harvested, the dye-bearing leaves are dried and separated from the stems. These dry indigo leaves are moistened with water and composted for one hundred days to make the traditional Japanese indigo dye-stuff known as sukumo. The dye vat is made by fermenting the sukumo in wood-ash lye with powdered limestone and wheat bran. Through this living process the indigo is naturally reduced, and almost one full year after the seeds were planted, dyeing can begin. 

Harvest & Mill: Dark liquid with bubbles in white-framed container, appearing to show fermentation or brewing process

The living dye vat.

Harvest & Mill: Person using brayer tool to apply gray ink from paper stencil onto fabric surface in printmaking process

In their studio.

Harvest & Mill: hands holding dried brown plant material with small seed pods against blurred natural ground

Indigo seeds collected and saved for next year to repeat the cycle.

We rely on the natural world around us to enrich our work with its inherent vitality.  We grow our plants organically at home in Bloomington, Indiana. We use no synthetic chemicals at any stage of the farming or dyeing process.  When the dye bath has reached the end of its life, it is recycled back as fertilizer to the indigo fields where it was born. We hold fast to the idea of moving forward by looking back to the historical techniques and process of Japanese indigo farming and dyeing and the high level of environmental responsibility and
stewardship they represent.