italian fashion brand brutus dyes leather jackets with algae

a special dye made from algae

italian brand brutus is revolutionizing the fashion world by using algae to dye their leather jacket designs. the company is set to commence an ambitious project born from a simple intuition of the founding team: dyeing vegetable tanned leather with pigments more extreme than ever — a concept that will help brutus save energy, resources, and money as well. this concept has resulted in the creation of a special coloring and treatment called algalizing SP, obtained from algae powder.

all images courtesy of brutus

promoting contact with nature

this algalizing SP idea best represents the creative and business reality that brutus lives every day. in fact, it is precisely within the architecture and design studio of cesare griffa, where brutus is based, that the experimental work takes place. ‘algalizing is a path that cesare has been exploring for years, expressing it in multiple forms, so it was a spontaneous decision to unite our two paths, experiencing a new life … on a new canvas … in a new color …,’ the fashion brand shares.

this unprecedented dye reinforces the concept of reuse and recycling already inherent in vegetable-tanned leathers obtained from the food chain. above all, it promotes the concept of contact with nature. ‘algae is nature at its most primitive. what we have created enables you to wear something extremely alive, highly energetic, and in constant evolution and change which puts you in contact with the vibrations of the universe,’ the brutus team explains.

unique garments dyed with algae

the reaction of the leather to the algae dyeing treatment is completely uncontrollable. for this reason, the final color can never be uniform or repeatable, with the resulting garment emerging as a unique piece. in collaboration with the iccio leather treatments company, brutus has carried out numerous tests and created sample garments, believing from the beginning in the positive characteristics of these new materials. the algalizing SP treatment provides the clothing with smooth texture, which is very pleasant to the touch. in addition, the green algae pigment generates an incredible range of shades and veins on the leather goods.