Indigo The Color that Changed the World

Catherine Legrand

The ultimate reference on indigo dyeing techniques across the world, and a compendium of the most beautiful samples of indigo textiles

Gloriously pieced together, much like the fine garments it portrays, this colorful book takes the reader on an international tour of indigo-colored textiles, presenting a huge swathe of remarkable clothing, people, and fabric. Catherine Legrand has spent more than twenty years traveling and researching the subject, and she has a deep knowledge of the ancient techniques, patterns, and clothing traditions that characterize ethnic textile design.

The book explores the production of indigo textiles throughout America, China, India, Africa, Central Asia, Japan, Laos, and Vietnam. It features more than 500 color photographs and is completed by specially commissioned drawings that provide close-ups of patterns and cloths.

Reviews

[Legrand] uses her book to tell the story of our emotional attachment to garments and deep connection to color and craft.

— Home Design with Kevin Sharkey, marthastewart.com

Legrand …writes with enthusiasm about the history of this shade and its evolution.

— Women's Wear Daily

A sumptuous new book.

— House Beautiful

Diverse images of people at work convey the enormous range of conditions in which indigo dyeing takes place.

— Surface Design Journal

A visual feast of 550 images offers textile details, proud locals wearing their garments, and process shots illustrating how the dyeing is done.

— Shuttle, Spindle & Dyepot

This sumptuous book can be appreciated on all levels: a history of the production and trade of dyes and textiles; an anthropology of textile production; and a stunning visual catalog of the international production of cloth colored with the blue dye, indigotin.

— The Art Blog

Contributors

Catherine Legrand

Author

Catherine Legrand worked as a graphic designer at the foundation of the Th?âtre du Soleil and in New York and Paris before becoming a freelance textile designer. In the course of her many ?textile voyages,? she has become a passionate collector of fabrics, outfits, jewelry, and accessories. She is also the author of Indigo: The Color that Changed the World.