S22 - Session O3 - Business using methods of natural dyeing techniques and future possibilities

Authors: Masaaki Aoki *

We have been running a natural dye studio in Kyoto, Japan since 2002. We boil plants, make liquid and dye yarn, fabric, and clothing. In particular, clothings are branded as "tezomeya" ,sold both through our online store and the physical store. Our products are mainly T-shirts and 12 variety of colors. Annual sales in 2019 were approximately 170,000.00 euro. 2010 saw the launch of an English website and online store, and in 2019 approximately 18,000.00 euro sales, supporting 10% of total. In my opinion, there are two major barriers to do business using only natural-dyeing. 1. low colorfastness 2. high cost As a countermeasure to low colorfastness, we offer "free re-dye service", faded tezomeya items can be dyed over and over again for free at any time. We need some things to make this service commercially viable. But our customers receive this reliable service for very convenient. It is also a good tool for the management to keep in touch with good customers, which helps increase the repeat purchase rate and the unit purchase price. As a countermeasure to "high costs", choosing unscoured fabrics (this comes omitting the dyeing agent process and reducing distribution costs) and completely standardized dyeing methods. In addition, detailed numerical management of orders enables efficient dyeing schedules. By those we do not need to rely on "intuition" or "skill level" And these leads to cost reductions. Our challenge is more market penetration. Over 70 euros T-shirts is still expensive. But once customers get ones, they will continue using them for over five years (based on data from customers using our free re-dye service). If this market grows, we believe that our method will increase the opportunity for people to have a long-lasting relationship with their clothes, and also increase employment opportunities for dyeing workers.