Bluesville – A Natural Combination Of Dye, Talent, And Tradition

In a market where the customer places increasing value on natural, organic material, and heritage manufacture and design, Indonesia’s Bluesville stands alone for their incorporation and use of their country’s natural resources and talent.
BLV shirt

Founded in 2011 by partners Osi, Conkie and Direz, who also operates Indonesia’s largest denim forum Darahkubiru, Bluesville draw heavy inspiration from vintage, US Military attire, made with locally produced fabrics and dyed with natural indigo and other natural dyes. Their range covers a broad spectrum of chino trousers, CPO shirts, dress shirts, bucket hats, and chambrays, but it is in their t-shirt and bandana range where Bluesville shines.

Bluesville

The tees are adorned with designs taken from the pages of vintage militaria journals and picture books, along with various other Americana, Amerikanji, biker inspired designs and imagery. They are made from a local indonesian natural cotton, and designed with a vintage style super tight neck opening, which will not lose its form after 10 wears; a nice change from a some of the mass produced shirts on todays market.

Each tee is then either left in its natural white state, or dyed with a natural dye. The material has a good weight to it, without being overly heavy and restrictive, the fit is vintage style, slightly wide and boxy just like they were in the 40’s and 50’s. They are undoubtedly a very high quality garment.

Bluesville Indigo

In my opinion, the bandanas are the best I have handled on the market. They are again made from locally sourced, Indonesian material, and are hand detailed using the traditional Batik method of printing; followed by dipping in a deep, natural dark indigo. Apart from indigo, Bluesville use wood, fruit, flower and plant dyes to give their clothing the most natural look and feel possible.

Bluesville Goods

What sets Bluesville apart from other brands producing military inspired, repro clothing is their complete embrace of their country’s natural resources, talents and traditions. What they make is honest, high quality, beautifully presented, and faithful to both the heritage it represents, and the culture in which it is made.

Natural Indigo Dye

On a recent trip to Jakarta, Indonesia I had the pleasure of speaking with Direz and Osie regarding their vision and what they have coming up in the future. What came across was their love of all things natural when it come to clothing, with Direz telling me that one of the biggest problems he runs into with production is that “on a rainy day, we cannot use the dye vats”. In my naivety I ask if the rain will effect the process, to which he replies “no, the people. Would you want to be outside using natural dye in a heavy storm?”. A fair point.

Meeting with the Bluesville team

In my opinion, looking at the quality of the product, and the combination of use of all natural dye and materials, the future will be extremely bright. In fact, it will be whatever colour they choose to dye it.