Vegetable and fruit dyes gain fall fashion spotlight

(ANSA) - Rome, August 25 - Food is having a fashion moment this fall with natural dyes making a big comeback in collections - from Vivienne Westwood, who dyed her label's knits in licorice, to Sicilian designers Adriana Santocito and Enrica Arena who used orange fibers.
    The practice has a long history.
    Vegetables, fruits and seeds have been used to dye fabrics since as early as the Neolithic age.
    Dyes obtained from grapes and roots were discovered in a Neolithic village close to the Ledro lake in the northern Italian region of Trentino Alto Adige.
    Ancient Egyptians used henna, saffron and turmeric to dye linen in a wide range of yellows and reds, with a bolder note to fabrics given by the alunite mineral.
    Since the 4th millennium BC, in Mesopotamia, wools were dyed in vibrant colors with Chaldeans and Babylonians inventing a technique to dye wool during yarn spinning.
    Jews used kermes, an oak parasite, blueberries and bitumen from the Dead Sea to obtain black.
    The most expert dyers in the Mediterranean were the Phoenicians, in the mid-15th century BC, who discovered that clams from the murex species could be used to obtain red.
    Fast forward to modern times.
    Over the past few years, the Italian fashion industry has rediscovered natural dyes - particularly chamomile to obtain yellow, nettle roots for greens and madder for reds.
    And fall-winter 2014 collections are a testament to the growing appeal of natural dyes.
    Westwood's Gold and Man labels featured knits dyed with licorice roots according to an ancient process - the only entirely natural system currently used which obtained the seal of approval of the Woolmark certification mark.
    The label's choice to go natural follows the British designer's motto to "buy less, choose well, make it last".
    Meanwhile Santocito and Arena have founded a fashion brand completely based on natural fibers.
    The Orange Fiber label produces clothes meant to be beneficial for skin health thanks to the use of orange fibers obtained through nano-technologies to make fabrics.
    The two obtained funding from the provincial government in the northern Italian city of Trento, as well as European funding, to develop their company today based in Rovereto, in the Trentino area.
    The Orange Fiber clothing line in particular uses cellulose extracted from citrus fruits so its fabrics reportedly release vitamins through essential oils to benefit the wearer.
    Another Sicilian brand, Vitussi, founded by Palermo designer Vito Petrotta Reyers, has launched a line of purses made out of prickly pear fibers with brass handles and precious internal embroideries, which can be personalized by the owner.