Indigo is one of the terms in our jeans and denim glossary. For information about more jeans terms, please visit our Denim Glossary.

Indigo
Blue jeans got to be that color by the application of indigo dye. Modern indigo is usually synthetic in origin but historically, up until about 1900, indigo was produced from a variety of plants, most commonly the tropical flowering plant Indigofera. Indigo dyes do not fully penetrate the fabric and the dye is apt to fade over time. When the indigo yarn is untwisted, white fibers are noticeable.