From synthetics to plant magic
It started a long time ago... with a little bartering episode, which at the time only seemed like a temporary occupation.
I was working in a hotel at the time and really believed that this was my calling. The daily rhythm, the contact with people, the perfectly bedded beds - I felt I belonged. At the same time, however, something completely different emerged - a little help for my then-boss's daughter, who was creating hand-dyed clothes. Sometimes I would peek into her studio, help with the dyeing, watch the colour penetrate the fabric. It was then that I touched the process for the first time. For a brief moment, I became part of the small, colourful world of synthetic dyes.
When that company fell apart, I stayed at the hotel. For the next eight years I lived the life I had once dreamed of.
Until one day it all fell apart.
It was a difficult moment. Something was coming to an end and a new one had not yet arrived. I was hovering between one thing and another, not knowing what to do next. And then I asked myself one question: „If not hospitality... then what?”
In response - like a frame from a film - a memory of colouring appeared. A small, inconspicuous episode that, for some reason, did not let itself be forgotten. At the same time, I was discovering my femininity more and more. I was re-learning myself - long skirts, dresses, hands immersed in the creative process. And the thought came to me: what if I made my own skirt? One that was down to the ground, full circle, with pockets... and in dream-like colours?
I couldn't find it. So I decided to make it myself.
In the beginning, I dyed as much as I could. Synthetically. It was exciting! The dyes gave me so many possibilities, I could create exactly what I dreamed of. As time went by, more and more magical ideas came to me, often inspired by you - my customers, who sent photos of sunsets, forests, the sky at dawn... And then something special happened. I would sit down to the pot as if it were a ritual. I would mix the colours, dip the fabrics and let my intuition guide me through the process. Every skirt was different. Even if I repeated the same pattern - it never came out identical. It was beautiful. And it still is.
But something has started to change.
I felt more and more strongly that the plants were calling me. That there could be more to it all - more nature, more meaning, more magic. I began to dream of bringing fabrics to life with the energy of herbs, leaves, pinecones... I knew it was possible, but I didn't know how. And then Ola from Wild Colours appeared on my path - a wonderful teacher who helped me to start my adventure with vegetable dyeing.
And then something irreversible happened: I fell in love.
In the plant. In the smell wafting from the pot. In the surprises I pulled out of the dye bath. I fell in love with the gathering of leaves on a walk, the silence, the waiting, the alchemy. The process of plant dyeing begins long before the colour appears - it begins in a relationship with nature. Every skirt is a conversation with a plant. It is a magic that cannot be compared to anything else.
Over time, I also noticed that the plants began to change me. Their energy was different. Gentle, deep, real. I began to look at what was around me differently. On what I wear, what I wrap myself with, what I feed my body with. Clothes dyed with plants had a different quality. A deeper one. You can feel it - and once you feel it, it's hard to go back to anything else.
And so, after many months of creating synthetically and plant-based at the same time... I made a decision:
I have dispensed with synthetic dyes.
I couldn't put it together any more.
I stayed with the plants - wholeheartedly and for good.
They are my path, my inspiration and my language. Through them I create, I tell stories, I touch what is real. And although it can be more difficult, slower, less predictable - I know that this is exactly my place.
Nicely written!