Abstract
This paper investigates how recycled textile waste, reconstituted as particulate pigment, reshapes understandings of material intelligence in textile design, proposing a specifically chromatic account. Through iterative dyeing trials on cellulose substrates conducted within the Perpetual Pigments research initiative, the study examines what occurs when colour is treated as an active participant rather than a controllable output. Drawing on new materialist theory and circular economy frameworks, the paper argues that waste-derived pigments introduce relational dynamics that challenge industrial assumptions of chromatic stability and control. Despite growing interest in bio-colour, recycled pigment systems remain underexamined within design research. This paper responds to that gap and proposes the term ethical pigments to name colour systems in which the conditions for ethical production are made legible through the material encounter itself.
Keywords
Ethical colour, Design research, Material intelligence, Textile research, Circular economy
DOI
10.21606/TI-2026.123
Citation
Meyrick, T.,and Kay, J.(2026) Colour Without Extraction: Towards Ethical Pigments, in Jane Scott, Sophie Skach, and Rebecca Stewart (eds.), Textile Intersections 2026, 17-18 September 2026, London, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/TI-2026.123
Conference Track
researchpapers
Included in
Colour Without Extraction: Towards Ethical Pigments
This paper investigates how recycled textile waste, reconstituted as particulate pigment, reshapes understandings of material intelligence in textile design, proposing a specifically chromatic account. Through iterative dyeing trials on cellulose substrates conducted within the Perpetual Pigments research initiative, the study examines what occurs when colour is treated as an active participant rather than a controllable output. Drawing on new materialist theory and circular economy frameworks, the paper argues that waste-derived pigments introduce relational dynamics that challenge industrial assumptions of chromatic stability and control. Despite growing interest in bio-colour, recycled pigment systems remain underexamined within design research. This paper responds to that gap and proposes the term ethical pigments to name colour systems in which the conditions for ethical production are made legible through the material encounter itself.