Bangkok--Sep 9--CHUO SENKO
The unusual one-day BASF office dress code is expected to draw public attention to the fact that the synthetic form of the Indigo blue in denim-wear today was discovered by BASF chemists a century ago. Similar events are being staged at other BASF companies in South East Asia.
Today, denim or jeans are the most popular pants material on the planet. What started as the working man's clothes a few decades ago, Blue Jeans are now worn by people from all walks of life-farmers to superstars who prize them for everything from simplicity, comfort and toughness to versatility and style.
The name "blue jeans" comes from "Bleu de Genes" or Blue of Genoa. In fact there is a widely held myth that the natural colour of jeans is blue. The truth is, what gives jeans their unique blue colour is indigo - the "King of Dyes"!
Why the "King of Dyes"? During the 19th century, the dye indigo was derived exclusively from plants. Thousands of hectares of the indigo plant "indigofera tinctoria" were cultivated in Bengal India to provide the raw material for this natural dye. The extraction of indigo dye was a long and tedious process making it expensive to produce. Use of the natural indigo dye was also difficult. Depending on the indigo plant's origin, harvest, and processing, the resulting dye contained different concentrations of indigo and impurities. It required a high level of skill and craftsmanship to produce a uniform colour.
Then in 1878, Adolf von Baeyer, who later won the Nobel prize for chemistry, succeeded in the first laboratory synthesis of indigo and by the 1880s, BASF was assigned the patents to the process.
Initial efforts to produce synthetic indigo were not commercially viable. However, the dedication of BASF Director Heinrich von Brunck to make the production of indigo on the industrial scale possible. Faced with the possibility of losing millions they had invested in their research and development prompted him to say, "You must not always think of profits when you are fighting for progress". On July 10, 1897, BASF introduced the first, successful, improved "Indigo Pure BASF" dye into the market. And the rest is history. BASF became the largest manufacturer of indigo in the world.
By the early 1900s, the use of BASF's synthetic indigo had replaced natural indigo. By 1930, BASF's cumulative sales of indigo dye reached nearly 70,000 tons. Today, BASF is still the world's largest single producer of indigo. If further strengthened its market leadership position last year with its acquisition of the textile business of the British company Zeneca. 99 percent of indigo production worldwide is used by the jeans and denim market.
With the continuing popularity of blue jeans around the world, BASF is confident that, after a century of success, indigo's prospects for future are bright and most definitely the "bluest of the blue".
BASF (Thai) Limited is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BASF AG. Formed in 1968, it provides Thai companies with access to a broad spectrum of products manufactured by BASF and its affiliates.
For more information, please contact; Pataravadee Ketkosol, Sunan Kraisittiphanich Public Relations Department, Chuo Senko (Thailand) CO.,Ltd. Tel. 260-8480 ext. 332, 333. End.