This is my report for Design Milk from textile manufacturer Vlisco’s HQ in Eindhoven as part of Dutch Design Week 2013…
You might assume that Vlisco was a West African company selling to the Dutch, but in fact quite the opposite is true. Vlisco have been making traditional batik fabric in Holland since 1846, when Pieter Fentener van Vlissingen founded the company. Because genuine Indonesian batik was very labor-intensive and therefore expensive, he spotted an opportunity to automate the dyeing process to make the fabrics more affordable.
