As early as 3000 B.C. plants of the genus Indigofera were harvested in India for the permanent deep blue they imparted to cloth.
The plant was inroduced in Europe in the mid 16th century. It had to replace the more difficult blue-dye technique based on woad.
The cultivation of Indigo in the southern United States and
the Carribean was in 1740. Due to the favorable climate there, it's crop became one of the first profitable colonial exports.
For centuries Indigo has been used on fabric made into practical everyday clothing, hence the blue jeans.
Indigo has inspired many nations worlswide and is used for all sorts of patterns. Large florals, geometric small motifs, contemporary ikat, ...
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