Sharkah Chakra, a new luxury denim brand made using Fairtrade organic cotton and a completely natural dyeing process, launches its first collection in the UK in September 2007. The jeans are made in villages across southern India by craftsmen that weave the cloth by hand on authentic wooden selvedge looms and use an ancient technique of natural indigo dyeing. By supporting these methods, Sharkah Chakra will revive a virtually extinct craft whilst simultaneously pioneering innovative, luxury denim.
Sharkah Chakra - The Background
Sharkah Chakra is the brainchild of Sara Simmonds, who previously worked at Harvey Nichols, London, as the menswear denim buyer. It was here that she studied and developed a passion for the ancient techniques of natural indigo dyeing and selvedge denim previously only seen in Japan. Using these Japanese techniques Sara wanted to produce something innovative for the denim market whilst also creating a new form of ethical luxury. She went back to the homeland of where the traditions of Indigo, natural dyeing and hand loom weaving began - India; and has over many months perfected the first ever premium denim to be made by naturally and by hand.
According to Sara "hand-woven goods are the original luxury item, life is about simplicity. I have created Sharkah Chakra to take the best of the past and combine it with the best of today to go forward to be the best of forever".
Sharkah Chakra -The Collection
Using Sara's denim expertise, Sharkah Chakra jeans have been cut and sewn to enhance and flatter the individual - designed to be worn forever. The first collection will be available in three different washes: Lotus Sky, Bengal Blue and Nude Neela. For men there are two styles - relaxed and straight leg - and one style for women, a straight cigarette.
Sharkah Chakra - Craft
The dyeing process used by Sharkah Chakra is 100% natural. Using certified organic Fairtrade cotton sourced from Africa, the yarn is woven by hand in India on traditional wooden selvedge looms, and taken to Italy to be laundered and finished by the original denim masters.
Dyeing
The dyeing process begins by extracting leaves from the indigo plant which are then fermented to make natural indigo dye. The cotton is formed into hanks - a unit of yarn or twine in a coiled form - which are dipped into the dye and left out to dry under the open Indian sky. This is repeated up to thirty times to achieve an intense pure blue colour, characteristic of Sharkah Chakra denim.
This dyeing method is extremely rare and only a few people around the world are able to execute it. Typically, brands use synthetic dyes that are damaging to the environment, generating huge amounts of sludge waste. In contrast, the Sharkah Chakra process is environmentally friendly, recycling sustainable waste and purifying the waste water. As organic dyeing does not allow for standardisation, every pair of jeans is unique.
Weaving
The denim cloth Sharkah Chakra produces is the very first of its kind to be woven completely by hand, giving it natural irregularities and character, which in turn gives each pair of jeans a personal touch. Using a premium extract of cotton, coupled with pure indigo dye, Sharkah Chakra has pioneered luxuriously soft denim which does not require lycra for comfort or form.
The cloth is weaved in a village in Tamil Nadu that dates back to over four generations and has a population of a few hundred people. Fourteen artisans work exclusively for Sharkah Chakra and each pair of jeans takes half a day to weave. The jeans are signed by the individual weaver, with the signature representing the hands that have made them. Sharkah Chakra is the first premium denim brand in the UK to be issued with both a Handloom and Fairtrade mark.
Finishing
Sharkah Chakra jeans are laundered at a leading Italian finishing house that works alongside the world's top denim brands. Inspired by Sara's journey, the laundry will use the least harmful chemicals possible in the finishing process in order to be respectful of the pure loomstate cloth. Each pair of Sharkah Chakra jeans has an embossed 9ct gold rivet made from part recycled gold which guarantees the authenticity of the brand. The rivet confirms that the denim is made from 100% organic Fairtrade cotton, is dyed using 100% natural indigo, is hand-woven and reinforces the symbol of the individuals whose hands have made them.
Sharkah Chakra jeans will be sold exclusively at Harvey Nichols, London and online at the Sharkah Chakra shop www.sharkahchakra.com
Source: Sharkah Chakra
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