In ancient Indian cultures, the Blue Lotus represents wisdom, knowledge and intelligence. A partially opened bud, the center is unseen as a sign of our continued path towards growth.  

For us, handloom weaving is that center. We walk the path along with the Indian artisan’s daily quest - the elusive object of perfect beauty. 

We are driven to create timeless innovations centered in the ethos of sensible craft. At Blue Lotus we rest easy knowing our intentions are authentic and we are energized knowing that our every process is transparent.

Why

In ancient Indian cultures, the Blue Lotus represents wisdom, knowledge and intelligence. A partially opened bud, the center is unseen as a sign of our continued path towards growth.  


For us, handloom weaving is that center. We walk the path along with the Indian artisan’s daily quest - the elusive object of perfect beauty. 

We are driven to create timeless innovations centered in the ethos of sensible craft. At Blue Lotus we rest easy knowing our intentions are authentic and we are energized knowing that our every process is transparent. 

What

Blue Lotus began as an entrepreneurship model that placed itself squarely in the most challenging aspects of the handloom industry in India – producer ownership and accountability.  Our dream is to become a vibrant space as the commons for everyone seeking to understand and engage with a fabric that has clothed us since time immemorial.

Working with about 70 looms across five districts, Blue Lotus’ ethos is to make naturally dyed Andhra cotton accessible to everyone, while championing the weaver. Andhra cotton is known for its use of jamdani and kuppadam techniques, but remains under-exposed to the national and international markets. We use natural dyes to produce a palette of 20 colours in a wide variety of yardage, sarees, dupattas and stoles.

In order to make clothing sustainable, affordable, and beautiful, we support entrepreneurs in traditional communities. Our platform links artisans working with fabric from the farm to the loom, rebuilding linkages between growers, spinners, dyers, and weavers. In essence, we build new kinds of engagements between our diverse members and their collectives.

Who

Blue Lotus is an ensemble of entrepreneurs, weavers, designers, dyers, weaver organizations and scholars. Our team is loosely bound and is an unconventional melange having come together with a shared desire to create effortless futures for the wide, brilliant maze of diverse crafts in the Indian subcontinent. 

We are proud to be associated with traditional practices of handcrafting. We enjoy the challenge of filling the gaps and constraints in languishing craft clusters, on investing in new markets for day-to-day base fabrics, and on bringing to life new products for emergent markets. 

Natural dyes

Blue Lotus dyers use natural indigo extracted from Indigofera tinctoria plants , directly sourced  from indigo extractors in South  India. Indigo is reduced to its soluble state, during which time cotton hanks is repeatedly turned to take up the color. It is then oxidized to its insoluble form during which time rich tones of blue are absorbed on the yarn surfaces.

As part of the Blue Lotus initiative three natural dye units have been set up in Andhra. Two of these dye units are owned and managed by weaver entrepreneurs.   The third unit is part of Blue Lotus,  headed by an extremely talented master dyer who has decades of experience in both chemical and natural dyes.  This unit also undertakes dyeing orders other than Blue Lotus production.

  • Reds and hues around red are dyed using alizarin and madder.  Alizarin is a dye and a pigment used from ancient times that yields a rich red and pink hue. While originally it was extracted from the common madder Rubia tinctorum roots,  it was synthesized in the 1870s from  the anthraquinone group. In Andhra, jajaku, leaves from the local forests are used to deepen the tones of red.

  • Pinks are dyed using Oldenlandia umbellate roots, locally known as chaval kodi. Depending on the time in the bath and the local water, different pinks emerge, from the light tints to the deep  peach and faded roses.

  • Pomegranate (Piinica granatum L)  , rich in polyphenols contain yellow pigments. When dyed with anar / dannima cotton hanks take on a rich and warm yellow. Depending on the weather, humidity and materials used by the handloom weaver on the heddles, resultant fabric color varies from rich vibrant yellows to darker  overtones.

  • Katha , often eaten with paan, is also used to color  natural fibers.   This is obtained from the heartwood of  the  Acacia Catechu trees and yields a rich , earthy brown dye. 

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