QUALITY AND STYLE: INDIGOFERA AT BULANG AND SONS

Everybody seems to have a favorite blanket. Honestly, whose parents didn’t put a blanket in the trunk of the family car back in the day, “just in case”?! If you’re an international supermodel, you will most certainly bring your favorite blanket on that dreaded red-eye flight. And we here at Bulang and Sons like to cuddle up with our loved ones in the impeccable wool blankets from Swedish denim brand Indigofera.

Indigofera Jeans

Indigofera is a small but highly respected label for jeans and high-quality garments inspired by the production values of yesteryear. Based in Stockholm, it was founded ten years ago by Mats Andersson, who had already already been working with quality denim in some way or another and was also a collector of vintage jeans: “Long before starting Indigofera I could see quality “going out of style” – many brands that were more and more expensive and not necessarily quality-driven emerged in the early 2000s.”

During that period, Mats was a part of the Swedish LVC team and had some good times there. But as the years went by, a lot of what he loved about denim seemed to be fading away. In the spring of 2007, the decision was made to start Indigofera Prima Jeans – for the love of original denim culture and products meant to last: “Indigofera is the name of the plant group from which the indigo pigment is sourced, which kind of marks the start of this denim industry. Without indigo, its lustre and fading capacity, denim wouldn’t be the same, at least not in the way we see it today”, explains Mats about the label’s name.

GROWN IN THE BEST SPOT

The company’s extraordinary, almost old-school approach to designing and making garments is stressed by the “Prima” subline, which is a quality statement the brand wants to be measured by. Or, in Mats’ own words: “Like the best tomato in the farmers’ market – well cared for and grown in the best spot. We always ask ourselves if a product is “prima” – is it good enough to bear the Indigofera trademark, to serve our fabric, fit and manufacturing standards?! Even our entry price product has to meet these high requirements. And over the last ten years, our standards have been the same all along. If anything, we have become better at reaching the high bar we set for ourselves.”

“We always ask ourselves if a product is “prima” – is it good enough to bear the Indigofera trademark, to serve our standards?!”

Since high quality is always recognized even despite language barriers and denim truly is an international phenomenon these days, it didn’t take long for IndIgofera to gain a reputation all around the globe. Furthermore, even though the Swedes are generally known to be clad in superior denim, the home market is too small to carry a brand like this, as Mats says: “There are simply not enough customers here. So we have always acted on an ambition to be distributed in other countries and continents, not least because of the fun part of meeting like-minded people around the world, but also to sustain our business.”

Still, the garments and blankets of Indigofera Prima Jeans are available only in a limited number of shops around the world – which is kind of a two-edged sword, as Mats can report: “We actually would like more people to find our stuff, there is no strategy behind having limited runs of production, it’s just the size of our company.” On the other hand, he says, the company sees people being happy about getting garments that are not produced in high numbers: “A common joke amongst us is that the tobacco store around the corner has a higher turnover than we do!” But things are changing and the brand is growing slowly. There are now 3,5 people involved, and everything is done in-house – from design and product development or picking & packing to sales, invoicing or customer service.

GENERATION: BLANKET

Next to the great jeans and garments in the Indigofera portfolio, their blankets stand out as a peculiar accessory. Made from 100% wool which is milled and woven in Norway, these pieces really are timeless in quality and design. As said in the beginning, everyone has a favorite blanket – and the ones from Indigofera are bound to be loved instantly. That was the intention in the first place, as Mats states: “I grew up with great wool blankets, but nowadays it is hard to find that type of rustic quality. So we wanted to recreate those great blankets we still had in our families. That’s why we like to call them “generation blankets”, because that’s how good they are – they can be handed over to your next generation.”

This personal history with blankets is also the reason for the designs of these woollen darlings – the colours and patterns are inspired by the older blanket designs the Indigofera crew found in their families. Over the years though, it has turned out that people often think the designs were inspired by cultures and places far away from Sweden and Scandinavia, which has only added to their overall global appeal. Plus, as Mats knows: “You can dislike a pant or a shirt for one reason or another – but everybody loves a good blanket. I think in some ways it may open up our Indigofera world to you, even if you don’t see yourself as a person that necessarily wears jeans and heavy quality men’s clothing.”

Now in the Shop

A selection of some of the most beautiful blankets from Indigofera Prima Jeans is now available in our shop.

INDIGOFERA HASSOCK FALLS 100% WOOL BLANKET

INDIGOFERA SCIOTO 100% WOOL BLANKET

INDIGOFERA MONTAUK 100% WOOL BLANKET