Indigo stands at the crossroads of a denim industry torn between preserving its heritage and embracing the future. Last week at Kingpins Amsterdam, representatives from Chloris Biochem, Lab Denim and Pili—companies that represent the latter forward-thinking camp—discussed the challenges and opportunities of pioneering dye technologies and the industry’s pivot from petroleum-based products.
Moderator David Tring, the founder of the consultancy The Magic of Denim, highlighted indigo’s complex history, beginning in the 1600s when Emperor Ferdinand III declared indigo “the devil’s color.” The dark moniker was the emperor’s way protect European farmers from the much superior indigo coming in from India.
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By the late 19th century, Tring said France imposed the death penalty for using imported Indian indigo to protect its domestic industry. Despite such harsh trade barriers, India exported around 9,000 tons of indigo by 1895 because of the product’s superior quality. However, just two years later, the invention of petroleum-based synthetic indigo by Nobel Prize–winning chemist Alfred Baeyer destroyed the natural indigo industry.
Pili chief business officer Pierre-Yves Bolle does not expect to see the guillotine back in France any time soon. The French biochemicals company produces Eco-Indigo, a bacteria-based alternative to petroleum-derived indigo dye. In January, Citizens of Humanity launched the first collection of jeans made with the Eco-Indigo. It was named one of Time’s Best Inventions of 2025 last week.
“Same performance, same shade… but we’re getting away synthetic indigo’s bad history,” Bolle said about Eco-Indigo.
The high-efficiency bio indigo addresses the textile industry’s annual consumption of 2 million tons of dyes—99 percent of which are fossil-based. Using a hybrid process that combines industrial fermentation with green chemistry, Pili’s method to produce high-performance colors reduces harmful chemicals and fossil fuel dependency while cutting CO₂ emissions by up to 50 percent compared to traditional indigo dyeing processes.
“Petroleum will come to an end,” he said. “If I if you look at history, I believe that on the timeline, petroleum will just be a dot, and it will disappear… And even though people will want to drill to the last drop, we need to find an alternative. The change is inevitable.”
Chloris Biochem is inspired by history. The U.S. firm’s Claessen Blue, a natural blue amino-acid dye, was named after German scientist Henrich Classen who discovered a blue microbe that produces pigment to protect itself in 1890. Over a century later, Chloris Biochem has found this strain again and optimized into industrial scale production. The company’s patented fermentation control system enables higher yield, more stable quality and lower cost.
Though Lab Denim has drawn attention for its realistic denim prints, the company’s focus is to bind color onto fiber in a way that uses no water. “At the core of the technology is an algae-based formula that opens the fiber and allows the color to get in. And because of that, you don’t have to pre-treat or post-treat the fabric,” said Dustin White, Lab Denim’s CEO.
Despite the clear sustainability benefits and the technology’s ability to deliver faster, more consistent results than traditional processes, widespread adoption still depends on brands and manufacturers stepping up — not only with financial support but also by sharing insights gained through real-world trials.
“Science is not enough. We all know that the way to [bring new technologies to market] is collaboration—to get the mills, laundries and brands to work together. And we have been working side by side with mills in Turkey, China and South Asia to make sure Claessen Blue fits right into existing indigo processes,” said Li Li, a representative for Chloris Biochem. “We have tested to make sure that no new machine is needed and there are no big process changes. We have tested the shades, the penetration and the fastness. We have proven it can run at industrial scale.”
White said there’s room for all these technologies. “There’s a need and [it just depends on] where you’re applying it, who the customer is and what you’re trying to accomplish,” he said.
Up next, Bolle said he would like to see Pili’s bio indigo combined with other innovation technologies like Lab Denim’s digital dyeing system to “have best in class technology” together. Combining efforts, he added, will show the market that there are multiple solutions and flexibility in problem-solving. “We need to create desirability,” he said.
