The world of 11.11/eleven eleven is immersive, with its team firmly invested in learning and working closely with the people and processes that contribute to product design. Natural dyeing, both an art and a science in its own right, is integral to the processes. Himanshu helms this aspect of the brand with Adheep AK, who oversees research into colours and also trains team members to learn the craft. Today, the brand has an extensive lineup of indigos, going from pastels to intense midnight hues. The natural dye repertoire extends beyond the blues, into every colour in the shade card, using ingredients that range from pomegranate shells, harda flowers and madder roots to alum and rust. Years of hard work has gone into these innovations, observes Himanshu. “We have worked with a lot of natural dyeing artisans across the country for many years. But there were always questions to be resolved. People often say that natural dyes are high-maintenance—it bleeds and rubs,” he says. “So we started doing it ourselves, with a lot of R&D and came up with answers—natural dyes that will not rub, the darkest of indigo, colours that will last longer.”
