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Every piece in the Jasmine Bains collection carries a secret: the marks you see — those soft, ghostly impressions of leaves and petals — were made not by a machine or a screen, but by the plants themselves. This is eco-printing, and it is one of the most intimate ways a maker can collaborate with nature.
Eco-printing (sometimes called botanical printing or nature printing) is a process of transferring the colour, shape, and texture of plants directly onto fabric using heat, moisture, and time. While the modern revival of the technique is largely credited to Australian artist India Flint, who developed and named the process in the early 2000s, the underlying principles draw on centuries of natural dyeing traditions from across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
The process begins with choosing the right plants. Leaves and flowers rich in tannins — eucalyptus, oak, rose, fern, and many others — tend to yield the strongest impressions. The fabric, usually a natural fibre like mulberry silk, wool, or cotton, is first mordanted: treated with a mineral salt (such as alum or iron) that helps the plant pigments bond to the fibre.
Fresh or dried botanicals are then arranged directly onto the dampened fabric. The fabric is rolled tightly around a wooden or metal rod, bundled, and steamed or simmered for several hours. During this time, the heat and moisture coax the plant's pigments and tannins out of the leaves and into the cloth, leaving behind a precise, painterly impression of every vein, edge, and curve.
When the bundle is unwrapped, the result is always a surprise — and always unrepeatable.
No two eco-printed pieces are ever identical. The season in which a leaf was picked, the mineral content of the water, the exact temperature of the steam, the pressure of the roll — all of these variables shift the outcome in ways that cannot be fully controlled or predicted. This is not a flaw. It is the whole point.
In a world of mass production, eco-printing insists on singularity. Your piece is not one of thousands. It is the only one.
At Jasmine Bains, we work primarily with mulberry silk — a fibre prized for its lustre, softness, and affinity for natural dyes. Silk's protein structure accepts plant pigments beautifully, producing prints that are rich, nuanced, and long-lasting when cared for properly. We also work with other natural fibres including wool and cotton, each of which responds to botanicals in its own distinctive way.
Explore our Explore Eco Prints collection and Eco Printed Fabric range to see the full breadth of what the process can produce.
Eco-printing is, by its nature, a slow process. It cannot be rushed or scaled without losing what makes it meaningful. Each bundle takes hours to steam. Each unwrapping is a moment of discovery. Each piece requires the full attention of the maker from start to finish.
This slowness is a form of resistance — to disposability, to sameness, to the idea that clothing is something to be consumed rather than cherished. When you wear an eco-printed piece, you are wearing a record of a specific day, a specific plant, a specific pair of hands. That story does not wash out.
If you'd like to experience eco-printing for yourself, we offer hands-on workshops in Chandigarh where you can create your own botanical prints under guidance. Browse our workshop and textile collections to find out more.
Have a question about eco-printing or our process? We'd love to hear from you.
On resisting the fashion calendar, and choosing to dress — and design — at nature's own pace.
Every thread carries a story — a look inside the slow, breathing rhythm of the loom.
