This Industry Capstone Program project is with the company Lab Indigo and the faculty advisor is Professor Frank Gallucci.

General Information:

The company was founded by Olga Reiche (Lead Designer) in 2006. Having a long experience in Fiber Arts and community and sustainable business projects in the artisan industry, Lab Indigo was born with the intention to consolidate knowledge and continue with hand made luxury artisan work and develop circular economy projects.

Lab Indigo is a sustainable eco-fashion brand that works with indigenous weavers creating woven textiles. We produce naturally-dyed threads that are used by a team of weavers - mostly women in different regions of Guatemala; helping them acquire and earn income directly from their homes. Lab Indigo aims to enhance educational, collaborative and cultural work done with weavers, institutions and associations that seek to promote the same principles.

The company will work to implement through three main aspects:

The company aims to complete all the steps from the seed to the finished product with a sustainable approach, integrating a circular economy model that can result in quality products, good environmental practices, generating income for rural indigenous artisans and farmers in different regions of Guatemala. The challenge is how to maintain economically viable while waiting for harvesting time.

The student team will assist with finding the proper available agriculture land and seeds to start the plantation of the best Indigo in the world (Indigofera Guatemalensis and Indigofera suffruticosa), and Brown Cotton (Hirsitum and Linen crops). In the meantime that the crops develop, finding appropriate clients and niches to promote our future harvested and processed fibers and dye. In addition, we need to promote our finished textile products, workshops on natural dyes and doing consulting.

The goal is to achieve successful crops and become suppliers of the three products of our harvest, which we would have in 8 months. Additionally, find customers and niches for our sustainable luxury finished products already in production.