Bigger India
The Surprising Indian Origin Of Blue Jeans
The cloth, dyed blue with Indian indigo, came from Genoa in Italy, which led to the word jeans. When weavers from Nimes in Italy tried to reproduce it, their fabric became De Nimes, which eventually became denim!
Who hasn’t worn blue jeans? Today, they are simply everywhere, from the USA to Ghana to Vietnam. Here is the story of the unexpected relationship between the world’s most popular clothing item and India.
It all started with indigo. A beautiful, rich blue dye could be extracted from the variety of indigo plant found in India (Indigofera tinctoria). Other varieties of indigo were found in various tropical countries, but India was the indigo centre of the world; Harappans first started making this dye 5,000 years ago!