About Us and Our Process
Our Story
My name is Molly and I founded Peridoe in 2021. From crafting to painting, I’ve had a passion for clothing and creating my whole life. As a child, my mother would make a lot of my clothes so I learned the basics from watching her at a young age. After upcycling second hand clothing and making my prom dresses in high school I recognized this would be a lifelong passion. After graduating from Philadelphia University with a B.S. in Fashion Design and minor in Business I went on to work as a tailor for several years. Although I loved working as a tailor it didn’t allow me to truly express my creativity and decided I to launch a festival and swimwear company. After running that brand for a few years, I felt the pull to create a company more in line with my core values and beliefs. First and foremost, that meant fostering a brand that was natural and sustainable. After lots of research, I was introduced to a small, woman-owned company in Bali called Cinta Bumi Artisans. After sharing my inspiration with the founding artisan, Novieta Tourisia, she crafted the first yardages that were used to create Peridoe’s early garments (some of which are still available in our shop). I was blown away by the beauty of Cinta Bumi’s art and was inspired to learn more about the process. Soon after I was creating small bundle-dyes myself. After a great deal of learning and experimenting, I felt that this process was really in tune with my plans for the brand. It offers an extra layer of creativity and connectedness that prompted me to do the dyeing for Peridoe in-house moving forward.
Sourcing Dye Plants and Materials
When we say this brand is fully natural, sustainable, and ethical, we mean it! Truly every part of our process follows those principles. From fabrication to sourcing dye plants to the handling and repurposing of end-stage, unused material. Even our packaging is natural, recycled and recyclable.
All our dyes come directly from nature through various channels. We are working on expanding our dye garden which grows flowering plants, eucalyptus, and rosemary. Many other dye plants are sustainably harvested locally depending on what is available and abundant in each season. We are careful to leave much more than is taken to ensure the lifecycle of not only the plants but of other animals and insects that depend on them. In addition, we use tannin-rich food waste like onion skins as well as avocado pits and skins that would otherwise be discarded.
While the vast majority of our materials are plant-based, we do use small amounts of minerals as well, which are also safe and non-toxic. Homemade rust water and copper water (made from repurposed metals) are used to shift dyes produced by the plants to increase the range of colors, hues, and tones available.
Fabrics
Lyocell is a fiber made of cellulose (the core component of all plants). The brand name Tencel ™, certified by Lenzing, denotes that the Lyocell was sourced from sustainable forestry. Lenzing has created an organic solvent used in a closed loop production process – making this both a natural and sustainable option.
The Tencel we used is called Euca Sateen and is made from eucalyptus. It’s soft and smooth to the touch with a luxuriously subtle shine and drape. Euca Sateen has a great capacity for thermal regulation and moisture absorption making it perfect for any season, and less likely to grow bacteria. All of these components make it an excellent option for those with sensitive skin.
The cotton batting used in our eye masks is organic GOTS certified cotton. The Global Organic Textiles Standard is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibers. It stipulates requirements throughout the supply chain for both ecological and labor conditions in textile and apparel manufacturing using organically produced raw materials. Meaning, a system of farming that maintains and replenishes soil fertility without the use of toxic, persistent pesticides or synthetic fertilizers must be used. Even the elastic on our eye masks is made from unbleached organic cotton and natural rubber.
Natural Dyeing and Printing Process
It’s not as simple as placing plants on fabric, there are a lot of steps in the natural dyeing and printing process. Once we receive the fabric, it must first be scoured (cleaned). The cellulose fabric then goes through pre-treatment baths that take several days to prepare the fabric to receive the dye and ensure they are lightfast and washfast (the color will last with repeated washing and exposure to light). First a tannin bath is used to help metal salt mordants bind to the fabric. After the tannin bath, a mordant bath is used to create a bond between the fabric and dye, ensuring its longevity.
Now the fabric is ready for dyeing! This can be done through immersion (immersing your fabric in a dye bath), bundling, or a combination. For bundle dyeing, the fabric is laid out while still wet after pretreatment. Next, various plants, flowers, and food waste are arranged on the fabric which is then folded and/or rolled. The bundle is wrapped tightly with twine to ensure firm contact between the plants and fabric is maintained. When bundle-dyeing and ecoprinting, we do not use plastic as a barrier layer before rolling. This is why you will see some “shadow” effect on our prints. It creates beautifully dynamic textiles and is in line with our core value of keeping everything natural and creating as little waste as possible.
Design and Construction
Once a garment or accessory is envisioned, it quite literally goes to the drawing table. After a sketch is finalized, a pattern is created by draping fabric on a mannequin, drafting on paper with tools, or a combination of the two. A sample is then made so the item can be tested for comfort and durability. This part of the process is often repeated multiple times to ensure the best version of a product is making its way to you. Once the pattern is finalized, it’s dyed and cut in one of two ways. With some items, yardage of fabric is dyed before the pattern is cut and sewn. With others, the fabric is cut and sewn in its raw state and then scoured and dyed after. All of our seams are clean finished as French seams (encasing the raw edge of the fabric inside a seam). This not only creates a delicate, clean look on the inside of the garment but because it’s sewn twice, it ensures a very strong, durable seam, adding to the overall quality.
The entire process, from conception through finishing takes place at our studio in Philadelphia, PA.