Indigo- Bridging Past and Present

The Living Blue — by LOADS Collection

Exclusively presented at ROOTS ‘Plant Based’ during Dutch Design Week 2025

In the spirit of ROOTS — where every story begins in the soil — we proudly present The Living Blue, a project by LOADS Collection, the world’s first Demeter-certified textile label. Founded by artist Claudy Jongstra and her son Jesk Jongstra, LOADS Collection embodies a breakthrough in regenerative design. Their mission is simple yet radical: to restore the bond between land, craft and culture through textiles that grow from living systems.

World’s First Demeter-Certified Textile

LOADS Collection has achieved what was once thought impossible: certification by Demeter International, the globally recognized label for biodynamic agriculture — until now known only in the world of food and farming.

Together with the Biodynamic Federation Demeter International, LOADS has set a new benchmark for regenerative textile production: from soil to fibre, from natural dye to design.

Biodynamic farming goes beyond “organic.” It views the farm as a self-sustaining organism, where soil, plants, animals, and humans coexist in balance. Every element nourishes the other — creating resilience, biodiversity, and vitality. By applying these principles to textile production, LOADS proves that design can regenerate life, not deplete it.

“Demeter’s recognition marks a pivotal moment: regenerative agricultural principles are now becoming tangible within the textile sector.” — Jesk Jongstra

A Living Pigment — Indigo Across Generations

For The Living Blue, LOADS bridges continents and generations. The project unites Japanese indigo, cultivated for over a thousand years, with Dutch woad grown biodynamically in Friesland. The fabrics, dyed by indigenous artisans in Japan and coloured with the 2025 biodynamic harvest, reveal a tranquil spectrum of blues and subtle shibori effects.

During their journey through rural Japan, Claudy and Jesk met 20th-generation indigo masters who still ferment pigments from the tade-ai plant (Persicaria tinctoria). This indigo is not just a pigment — it’s alive. It is shaped by soil, microbes, seasons, and human care. Each hue mirrors its environment, becoming the colour of a place and its living systems.

Learning by Doing — Regeneration as Practice

In Japan, indigo has long symbolized harmony between human life and nature. Working with it demands patience and reverence for the microorganisms that give the dye its deep hues.

In collaboration with Aiya Terroir, a family-run atelier in Tokushima, LOADS continues this biodynamic dialogue. Their Sekem cotton, biologically grown and dyed in Japan, carries the layered blues of a living tradition.

The Living Blue is more than a textile project — it is a story of regeneration. It celebrates intergenerational knowledge, the slowness of true craft, and the soil as our shared origin. In the context of ROOTS Exhibition ‘Plant Based’ at Dutch Design Week, it reminds us that every colour, every fibre, every gesture begins with the earth beneath our feet.

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ROOTS Exhibition 'Plant Based'

Location: Piet Hein Eek, atelier 12

Halvemaanstraat 30