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Colour in Textiles: Colour and the Environment Since
the 1990s
María Luisa Musso
Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón III. Buenos Aires, ArgentinaEmail: [email protected]
During the three last decades of the 20th century in Europe and America, the use of colours refl ected people’s thinking and behaviour and was a clear expression of the social premises of the time. Throughout the 1990s colours used were in accord with widespread concerns about the environment: a deeper awareness of the environment in danger because of activities of mankind. Companies from Italy, France, Germany and the USA began to propose textiles and colours with a much reduced environmental impact in their manufacture and use. Colours related to the nature were much in evidence and products using naturally coloured cotton produced without any chemical treatment began to be commercially viable.
Background
This article examines how the use of colour in textiles has acted as a paradigm as regards
attitudes and behaviour towards environmental matters over the past two decades. During the
1990s the use of colours by fashion designers refl ected concerns about ‘green’ issues. A new
trend of thought set forward a deeper awareness of the environment in danger. An emphasis on
conservation was the most remarkable trend, and taking on board themes such as humanity’s
relationship with the environment, the protective home, native roots and traditions. The
new commandments were avoiding pollution, the effi cient use of resources, the importance
of quality rather than quantity, and respect for nature. Several companies, at fi rst in Europe
and the USA, and later throughout the world, began to propose textiles and colours related to
this way of thinking. Everyone celebrated nature in their own way, by the choice of material,
subject or colour.
It is interesting to consider how the use of colour has refl ected and accompanied attitudes
and behaviour towards environmental concerns in Western countries. Complex applications
of colour have provided a clear expression of the social priorities of the time, throughout the
1990s colours, refl ecting concerns about the impact of human activities on the environment.
The euphoric creativity of the 1960s, and the accompanying sense of prosperity and
expansion, was refl ected in the widespread use of bright colours, to be followed in the more
utilitarian 1970s where muted, faded colours became fashionable after the oil crisis of 1973.
The 1980s was the decade of appearance: egocentricity together with hedonism and obsession
for social status were more signifi cant features. It was a decade of a remarkable awareness of
colour. Blacks were popular, alone or associated with white and red, as well as with metallic
colours, silver and gold, so as to emphasise the sought-after luxury effect [1,2].
The University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, India, has been working with the
Khadi and Village Industries Board to promote the cultivation of naturally coloured cotton in
parts of northern Karnataka. Agricultural scientists at UAS developed two varieties of coloured
cotton since 2003 by crossing the wild cotton varieties with the cultivated white ones under a
fi ve-year project sponsored by the Cotton Corporation of India. Naturally coloured cotton was
developed in two colours, green and almond brown. Cultivation of coloured cotton varieties
needs to be done in protected environment as there are chances of the normal white cotton
becoming contaminated due to cross-pollination.
Scientists in Syria in 2004 produced naturally coloured cotton by introducing random
changes in the genetic material of cotton seeds. Two brown varieties were produced giving
greater yields and higher quality fi bres than other naturally coloured varieties, giving them
potential for commercial textile production.
China produces about 30 000 tonnes of naturally coloured cotton each year, accounting for
nearly 60% of the world’s total. Ninety-fi ve percent of China’s coloured cotton is produced in
Xinjiang, in a total area of 20 000 hectares.
Peru Naturtex Partners is one organisation involved in this trade: a contract manufacturing
organisation, vertically integrating organic fi bre production, including both carded and
combed natural coloured cotton. Embrapa of Brazil is another, having over the past three
decades become well known in the fi eld of tropical agriculture. A pioneer in the development of
coloured cotton in that country, Embrapa launched its fi rst cultivar, BRS 200 Brown, in 2000.
The BRS Green was placed on the market in 2003, and BRS Safi ra and BRS Rubi in 2005. All
were obtained through conventional methods of genetic improvement to meet the growing
demand in the market.
Conclusion
Organic products such as naturally coloured cotton must have accurate labelling and meet the
minimum standards set for processing. The need for a general global standard to protect the
environment from chemical pollution is now recognised. For example, at Heimtextil 2008 there
was a signifi cant the increase in the number of companies promoting products and services
claiming environmental benefi ts. Amongst the items presented were organic cotton, water
treatment plants to limit toxic waste and low-water dyeing processes.
Material processing and treatment must not release chemicals into the environment that can
be traced in the products consumed and in turn adversely impact on the environment. These
goals can only be accomplished if producers establish long-term environmental objectives and
fi x targets to achieve them.
References
1. M L Musso, Proc. AIC Color 05 (Part 2), Granada (2005) 1589–1591.
2. M L Musso, Proc. AIC interim meeting, Stockholm (2008).
3. ‘The development of the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 criteria catalogue’, Oeko-Tex News (1999). http://www.oeko-tex.com/xdesk/ximages/470/16167_entwicklun.pdf
4. J M Vreeland, ‘Coloured cotton: return of the native’. http://www.perunaturtex.com/coloured.htm