The water-free dye

By Fidan Karimova

Council of Fashion Designer of America (CFDA) is a non-profit trade association working to advance the status of fashion designers in the United States. They provide various type of support for designers, among which are annual awards and scholarships for high school, college and postgraduate level students. This year CFDA collaborated with Lexus to honor 10 designers in the Eco Fashion challenge, the aim of which was to award top sustainable designers.

Amongst the recipients of this year’s award was Costello Tagliapietra, for their use of the innovative AirDye technology in their garment creation. The duo, composed of Costello Tagliapietra and Jeffrey Costello, debuted their first collection in 2005 and were awarded an eco award. For their Spring/Summer 2010 collection the designers created clothing that was colored with a dye that requires almost no water. According to the stats, one Costello Tagliapietra dress dyed with AirDye technology will be able to save 45 gallons of water.

The technology prevents the release of hazardous waste being released into the waters, in addition to providing a lower price compared to the regular dyed garments. Considering the fact that an estimated 17-20% of industrial pollution is a result of textile coloring and treatment, based on the World Bank estimate, this new process of dyeing could bring about drastic environmental changes while preserving the stylishness of the clothes.