Velvet Indigo

This special coloured velvet is made by  Buro BELÉN and Tinctoria. When dying velvet with plant dyes, every dye reacts differently depending upon the specific materials. Indigo (blue) prefers viscose while madder (red) likes the silk. Using these characteristics, magical effects appear. This very exciting product, Velvet Indigo, is created through a small collaboration with nature: silk/viscose velvet, dyed with indigo and madder. Velvet Indigo was originally made for plaids with sizes of  220cm x 220cm and 330cm x 330cm.

Lenneke Langenhuijsen and Brecht Duijf from Buro BELÉN are materializers.  By broadening and expanding the material qualities of spaces, objects and products, BELÉN creates tangible design for the future. Central to their approach is the intuitive, emotional and physical aspects of design, resulting in products and visions that show unexpected applications of material and colours, as well as revaluations of conventional techniques. Velvet Indigo has been developed with Tinctoria of Leentje van Hengel, a driven textile designer who only uses natural dyes. Because this is a eco-challenge. Since 20 years she has delved into the craft of natural dyeing. She has gained a reputation in this field and has done assignments for several top designers who wanted to use these lovely colours. All colours are thoroughly tested on light- and wash fastness. She was involved with Rubia, the madder extract factory in Steenbergen, since their inception.

BELÉN works on material and colour concepts in the field of product design, interior design and exhibition design.They have been commissioned by Georg Jensen, Villa Noailles Hyères, Textiellab Tilburg, amongst others. Their work has been exhibited at Textile Museum Tilburg, Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam, Palazzo Clerici Milano.