Grottoes, Grapes & Greeks

In 1684 BC, nearly 3 thousand years ago, the Phoenicians sailed the coast of Italy and, discovering their new treasure, extracted metals from the island of Ischia. It is a good possibility that the shores also hosted waves of ancient Philistines.

The first recorded settlers were the Osci (also known as the Opici or Ausoni). Labeled Tyrrhenians by the Greeks, they were a branch of the Etruscans who migrated from the Aegean region in the 10th century BC and first introduced the arch and vault in Italy. These aborigines had migrated from Lydia (Greece) under a leader of the same appellation.

Consequent to the destruction of Troy, in 770 BC Greek refugees disembarked onto the shores of the island and set up the first Greek colony in the West—on Ischia! For the next 6 centuries, southern Italy belonged to Greater Greece, otherwise known as Magna Graecia.

Soon, they planted a colony across the bay on the mainland, in Cuma, just down the block from where Sofia Loren was born. They called the city Parthenope, and it was not long before the Greeks grew tired of their old city and established a “new city”—Neopolis—a name that mutated to Napoli, or Naples in English.

The clothing of Greek men was loose fitting, as opposed to the tight-fitting attire of the Barbarians. Greek men wore a tunic of linen or wool called the chiton, which was tied at the waist and—shorter than the women’s, just above the knee—usually covered one shoulder.

During cold periods, a rectangular cloak known as the himation could be draped over the body. Footwear consisted of leather sandals, if anything. The key word during this period? Functionality. Ancient Greek men were practical.

2010 Trends & Takeaways from the period:
There are many elements of ancient Greek menswear that will appear in 2010 spring/summer collections, such as white linens, elaborate designs, marked borders, and sleeveless garments.

Like the chiton, unisex styles will prevail, blending the boundaries of masculinity and femininity. As with the chiton, you can expect to sport outer belts around the waist of your jackets and coats.

Probably the greatest source of inspiration for s/s 2010, however, is the free-flowing and loose-fitting style of draping, which the Romans developed with the toga.

Photos Procession Sant'Alessandro, Ischia, Public Domain.

Rubia Pigmenta Naturalia

After posting my 2-part interview with sustainable designer and artist John Patrick, I received an email from his Dutch friend, Anco Sneep, director of Rubia Pigmenta Naturalia, which produces a natural red dye that dates back to over two millenia:

"A world without colour is barely conceivable for us. Nature provides for colour all around and anything we create, we create in colour. And–we’ve been doing so for thousands of years. Primeval human beings already used colours to outline drawings or illustrations, and all generations thereafter carried on doing so. These colours were made from natural resources. One of the most important materials was–and still is–madder.

The roots of the madder plant produce a genuine red colour. The ancient Egyptians had already discovered the incomparable madder tint: a belt dyed with madder root was found in the tomb of Tutankhamen. But the ancient Greeks and Romans also used this unique colour as a dye, which in the later Byzantium Empire was given the name Turkish Red. Famous artists like El Greco, Velasquez, and Vermeer used madder as a base for particular red tints in their paintings.

In the 18th century, madder–or by its scientific name Rubia Tinctorum –became a popular dye for textiles. Particularly in the southern Netherlands, in West Brabant and Zeeland, the plant was cultivated on a large scale. Madder became an important economic factor in this area.

After the German chemists Graebe and Liebermann discovered in 1868 how the red madder dye could be produced synthetically, cultivation of madder quickly declined and finally vanished.

Rubia® has developed a totally new process to extract the genuine madder dye very efficiently in an ecologically friendly manner. Elements of the system are specially selected madder under license.

The highest priority in the Rubia® research laboratories is continuous process control and optimization aligned with quality enhancement. In addition, the colour agent content of the different root batches is determined to permit fair compensation for the growers.

In the factory, the colour agent is extracted from the roots by means of a special Rubia® process. As market leader, Rubia Pigmenta Naturalia® comes from the only industrial installation worldwide to produce the authentic Turkish Red.

Rubia® red is the ideal dye for companies seeking to differentiate themselves through the use of authentic and brilliant colours, produced entirely on a natural basis. Rubia®–a new dimension in colour!

Highly praised Dutch designer Rianne de Witte has decided to work with natural dyes of Rubia Pigmenta Naturalia®!

Photos and Slide Show Copyright by Rubia Pigmenta Naturalia.