FORAGING
Central Italy is a rich land that brings frequent and unexpected encounters with dyeing materials. BILULU embraces this diversity, interacting with the land around us to create organic colours using materials of plant origin such as tree bark, peel, leaves, berries, fruit, flowers and organic food waste.
Respect for the circular nature of natural processes is the essence of eco-friendly foraging.
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Brand founder Lucrezia Moro is keen to share a few simple foraging rules:
“Talking about non-invasive species, it’s important to adopt a harvesting method that won’t impoverish the environment and the biodiversity, based on the ecosystem of the area you explore. So as not to interfere with its life, make sure you don’t collect more than 10% of your dyeing materials from the same plant: that plant is important to countless other mutually dependent species”
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NATURAL DYES
Experimenting with dyes adds character to garments and offers a chance to get to know the local area in a visceral, non-aggressive way.
This kind of foraging creates a link with the land as we map and conserve the native flora. In some cases, we create hues by reusing discarded materials from other sectors: pruning residues, discarded flowers, food or agricultural waste – materials that can generate incredible colours. Using such materials embodies a form of circularity that positively impacts the local environment.
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MENDING
Today more than ever, it is necessary to minimize what we produce, limit our waste and create durable goods that, when the time comes, can be repaired rather than thrown away. This explains why BILULU garments have a timeless aesthetic, embodying a concept of basic clothing that transcends the fleeting nature of fast fashion trends.
BILULU constantly analyzes the entire life cycle of its products to ensure continuous improvements and minimize waste. Sustainability only exists over time: the most sustainable garments are the ones that are used often and over a long period. BILULU actively encourages purchasing basic products that go beyond fashion, that not only live with us over the years without losing value but are capable of creating new stories and narratives.
Lucrezia Moro runs courses on mending and dyeing to encourage the restoration and care of BILULU garments.
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BILULU uses quality yarns of animal and vegetable origin. Its cashmere, vicuna, cruelty-free silk, organic wool, linen and hemp are made by small producers and Italian companies that comply with international eco-sustainability standards and responsible working practices.
Lucrezia Moro does all her dyeing herself, manually, on an item-by-item basis deciding whether to use a non-toxic, alum-based mordant to guarantee garment colour durability, or instead use plant-based mordanting.
The detailed information sheet that accompanies every BILULU garment into the world details this process of transformation and raw material processing. Knowing the provenance of the goods we buy is an important first step towards more conscious consumption.
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All packaging and wrappings are plastic free. The brand’s communication materials are printed on FSC®-certified Favini Refit paper, made of 40% post-consumer recycled content and 15% wool or cotton processing residues, manufactured using Favini’s own hydroelectric power.