Local clothing markets in a particular area are accustomed to sell what their closest manufacturers produce as an expertise, and specifically what their target clients put forward as their usual demand. The smaller these businesses are, the lesser they can afford to bring something unique from clothing manufacturers overseas. Same is the case with tie-dye when it comes to targeting clothing markets in Europe. Why? Because if you want to get the finest quality of tie-dye clothing units, you can only get it done from the places of its origination.
Historical overview of tie-dye
History links the introduction and evolution of this pattern making technique to the cultivation of the famously known plant ‘Indigo’. People from Japan, Indonesia, India, Central Asia, West Africa, and pre-Columbian Peru in South America are considered as the earliest known tie dye clothing manufacturers. It was however brought to Europe in the seventeenth century through cotton calico fabrics (a vital trade commodity between India and Europe originally prepared in Calicut of India).
Same country imports: for raw and finished products
Fabrics which are made up of natural fibers (including cotton, rayon, and silk) are considered best when it comes to tie-dye. The more a fabric is made up of synthetic fibers, there is likelihood that the end result would turn out pale.
And interestingly, most fabrics (raw material for clothing lines) these days come from Asia; specifically, China, India, and Bangladesh. So, if you intend to get this sort of printing done from native dyers, there’s good news for you. You can also get your raw material from the very same place you intend to import your finished products from.
Product specialties you may get
- India specializes in making silk printed handkerchiefs, neck cloths, sarees, turbans, and bandanas with a natively known tie-dye technique known as ‘Plangi’. This technique yields an end product which demonstrates a larger pattern or motif made from smaller dots in a sequence.
- Typically, ‘Japanese Shabori’, a primitively manual tie dying technique produced fabrics with blue patterns (specifically geometric in design). It is made with the use of resist dying method where a portion of the fabric is bound round and round with thread before being immersed into the dye used.
- ‘Mudmee’, is yet another technique of tie-dye printing which is practiced in Thailand. Unlike some contemporary tie-dye methods practiced today, mudmee patterns are made on pigmented or black base fabric, as a result of which vibrant designs are created (a characteristic trait of this type of printing).
- ‘West African tie dye printing’ was what manifested itself in the mainstream when the hippies and rock stars started showcasing this fashion in the 1960s. To purchase something as such, fabrics as well as finished products can specifically be traced back to Nigeria.
If your target client happens to be a population that’s well aware of different forms of art in this realm, and are conscious about getting authentic products, you shall definitely think of getting your bulk from clothing manufacturers overseas to get things from their native producers.