Indigo Chroma

‘Indigo Chroma’- Heather Sprowson’s sustainable denim menswear, graduate collection. Highlighting an appreciation for craftsmanship and slow fashion. Influenced by the historical impact of the denim industry and its ‘workers blues’ origins with a focus on denim detailing and highly textured, handcrafted pieces. Producing relaxed menswear designs with a genderless approach. An exploration of denim: past, present and future. Initial inspiration for colour and texture derive from her father’s family engineering factory and the toxic chemicals worked with. The reactions that occur when chrome (chromium VI) comes into contact with denim, as well as its erosion of led anodes produce rusty, burnt orange and olive-green hues. Washed over time, chrome causes a breakdown of the heavy-duty workwear fibres, remaining with a bleached and distressed appearance. ‘Indigo’, reflecting the colour most associated with denim and workwear, Heather Sprowson reinterprets timeless denim classics, appreciating the fabric historically known for its durability. ‘Chroma’, literally meaning, the intensity of colour. Referring to the hints of dyed orange denim, oversized crochet accessories and screen printed greens within the collection, inspired by chromes chemical reactions. The highly textured pieces within the collection reflect extensive research surrounding the impact of the denim industry and its water intensive finishing processes, similarly the degradation of fibres caused by chrome. As means for sustainable alternatives to replicate these textures, techniques such as laser etching and hand stitching wool scraps have been explored. Heather’s aims of creating slow fashion pieces is evident through the use of organic and unwashed denim, dead-stock, scrap fabric and trims additionally a donation of denim offcuts from Hiut Denim Co, a jeans brand with a factory in Wales.