The Babylonian word uqnatu is the earliest known reference to indigo dyed cloth. The ancient cuneiform writing likens the wool that has been dipped many times into the dye as having the rich color of lapis lazuli and also the deep blue of the infinite sky. Indigo is universal: it draws on traditions and techniques from all over the world.Indigo is timeless: it has been transforming cloth from pre-history to the 21st century. Indigo is durable and divine. Wear it with purpose.
We believe in small, local production, the timeless beauty of raw denim and natural fibers without additional chemical processes, thinking before buying, consuming less, and wearing your clothes for many years. We hope you will love Uqnatu as much as we do.
Uqnatu is a denim-inspired garment collection designed in Brooklyn, produced in Queens by Laura Foos.
The material:
substantial, forthright, unpretentious.
The cut:
comfortable, versatile, elegant.
The style: simple, classic, clean.
Uqnatu is made in very small batches. We do not over-produce and only make what we reasonably hope to sell. We currently work with one small family-run factory that is part of New York City’s garment making production. The sewing machines are traditional, industrial machines with one person sewing most of each garment. It is not automated as with mass production. You can still see the wobble of a stitch here and there as a tale-tale sign of its maker. We spend many days there when production is underway. We wash each item, hang to dry, clip threads and put on the hangtags before folding and packing.
We are working toward the best practices and mindful of our effect on the earth. We use 100% organic cotton GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) batiste, twill and duck canvas every season. We also use 100% cotton deadstock denim and chambray which is warehoused fabric left over from closed factories and mills and vintage fabric.
Foos hails from a small Ohio farm, where she learned traditional domestic arts: sewing, embroidery and quilting. As a teenager, she represented Sandusky County at the Ohio State Fair. After college, Foos worked at the Museum of Modern Art and the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Inspired by pure form, design and function, Foos pursued pattern-making studies, and apprenticed with (or worked for) Isabel Toledo, Hussein Chalayan, Dries Van Noten and John Bartlett. Later Foos designed several categories for women and men at the Gap, often using utilitarian cotton fabrics.
Her years of experience with denim inspired Foos to launch
Uqnatu: accessible, durable, purposeful.
- by Mary Vukovic'