In early December I spent some time in Bali, Indonesia to work alongside the artisans who produced our La Playa t-shirts.
They are dyed in a small family run dye-house owned by Pak Ali, who has been running his business since 1997. Pak Ali enjoys the creative process of tie dying and working with designers who appreciate his craft. He has 3 employees, all family who have relocated from East Java to help with the business as it has grown over the past 20 years.
Each of our La Playa t-shirts is washed, twisted and tied, hand-dyed, washed and left to soak. This process will ensure that each piece is colour-fast. The process takes Pak Ali and his team up to a day to complete. The nature of this hand-dyed process means that no 2 pieces will be the same, colour and swirl placements vary from piece to piece.
Approving swatches in the natural light with Pak Ali.
To achieve my desired colour, each piece is left for 5 minutes before the colour is washed out.
Dennis, completing the washing process.
3 clocks for keeping good time.
Dennis, Farhan, little Cantik and I, checking final production.
We have produced 30 pieces of each colour, exclusively available at our Gift Bazaar.