Every part of our process is considered

Process Snapshot: Fabric and thread selection; soaking of materials; creation and preparation of botanical dyes; dyeing the fabric; patterns, cutting and sewing designs; drying; a dea creation is born, ready to be worn by a beautiful human body!

 Our Process: From Start to Finish

There’s so much buzz around the sustainable and eco-friendly movement within the clothing industry right now. This is fantastic but sometimes it gets a bit confusing as to what it all actually means. Here at dea we are totally toxic free, an ethical consideration that is woven into every aspect of our process – from start to finish.

Our intention is to create clothing for every human being, no matter skin tone, type or condition. And we are creating clothing that is safe and loving for our planet.

Let’s unpack how dea works to maintain a reciprocal relationship with mother nature, not harming her in the creation of our pieces.

Fabric & Thread Selection
Our fabrics are tried and tested – it took us a wee while to find the right ones. We can proudly say that all our fabrics are Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified organic cotton. This means that the cotton is grown organically without any chemical sprays or pesticides and has been held up to a particular standard of social and ecological criteria.

dea wants a green supply chain that supports the people and the environment at every step. We started using Tencel thread alongside our cotton, made from wood pulp and elastic made with organic cotton and natural rubber, and we still use Tencel for our products made in NZ. The switch the polyester thread for products made in India is a decision we didn't make lightly, and we are working behind the scenes to come up with a better alternative. Our fabrics are either left in their raw form, plain ecru, or they go through our natural dyeing process.

Preparing the Fabric for Natural Dyes
Generally when fabrics are dyed they will go through a mordanting process, in basic terms the fabric is soaked with a metal ion which encourages the dye to adhere to the fabric. In commercial and home natural dyeing these metals are usually Alum, Iron, Copper, Tin and Chrome.

Here at dea we started using no mordants, but the reality of trying to use our natural dying process in India, meant that we had to use something to help the colour stay in the fabric. There are mordants that are found in nature, some are better than others and you can find better Alum out there as well that is safer for your skin and planet. We know use Alum from minerals as our mordant, and are using Founder, Deanna’s skin as our compass. If it irritates, it doesn’t get the tick of approval.

We believe this is an important education tool as many natural dyes do use mordant techniques that, although make the fabric brighter and say natural, can still be very toxic to those with sensitive skin and the earth.

We are working behind the scenes to innovate as we would prefer to not have to use any for a number of reasons:

They can be an irritant to people with highly sensitive skin and we are committed to creating beautiful garments that are 100% gentle.
They are often a non-renewable resource.
They are another item to add to our production process which significantly increases the carbon footprint of your garment.


The dea Difference
What we do at dea is use soy milk/coconut water as a dye ‘binder’. After our fabric has been scoured we soak the fabric overnight in a bath with soy milk (any milk can be used but we use homemade organic soy milk). The protein of the soy helps to bind the dye to the fabric and results in brighter longer lasting colour than if we dyed without the binder. This results in a fabric that is soft and gentle on our skin and the environment.


Creating our Botanical Dyes
Our dyes are all created from natural resources, and at the moment we have three colours; avocado, walnut and pomegranate.

Avocado skin and pips: Collected as a byproduct from the Village Press compost. We clean and freeze the pips to preserve them. When dyed this creates a soft pink shade - Unconditional Love

Walnut husks: Collected from a local walnut orchard, the skins are dried and stored for when we need them. When used as dye the husks create rich and earthy brown tones - Grounded & Whole

Pomegranate skins: Originally we collected the skins of the pomegranate and dried them for our colour, but due to a scarcity of skins we also buy in a powdered form from Botanical Colours. When dying this creates a light mustard colour - Creativity & Flow

Achiote seeds: Collected as a by product from Tio Pablo. These little seeds are a vibrant red-orange hue – Radiant Passion

Pure colour straight from mother nature. The botanicals are stewed before dyeing to extract the colour, and after a long time voila - we have dye ready to go!

Dyeing the Fabrics
Then – after having been through the binding process – the fabrics are added to the dye to soak overnight. Once they are ready, they are taken to be hung out on the washing line to dry. It’s a pretty magical sight to see our unique pieces drying in the sunshine – fully embracing their new colourful identities.

Patterns, Cutting & Sewing
All the patterns have been designed with love by Deanna and tested out by friends and whānau to ensure they are just right for you! We cut the patterns and then the fabric, sew it together, and there you have it. dea – Earth Woven Vibration from a little organic cotton seed to a joy-filled garment.

Honest ingredients, all the way through. We pride ourselves on the consideration and integrity we have brought to the creation of this product. It has been a labour of utter love, on so many levels. Here’s to our people and to our plants, for all they have given! And here’s to you for supporting us and supporting sustainability through what you wear.


Love dea x