On Plant Dyeing & the Power of Color: In Conversation with Sheena Sood

Sheena speaks softly, yet confidently. Her energy is calm & balanced, her presence warm. I was privileged enough to catch Sheena in her element, wearing her very own purple abacaxi tie-dye jogger pants and sweatshirt, sitting cross-legged on her dear friend’s cream-colored sofa on a rainy day in Los Angeles. I hope you enjoy her voice as much as I did. 

Sheena Sood is a textile designer, artist and the founder of the clothing label abacaxi. She grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, yet both of her parents are from India; her mother from Shimla, Himachal Pradesh and her father from Punjab.

Photographed by Curt Saunders

Can you introduce abacaxi? 

abacaxi is the Portuguese word for pineapple. I started the line originally in 2013. I was freelancing, working as a textile designer for different brands. It started as a creative project, a capsule of pieces that I made for a store in Park Slope that carries ethically and/or locally made pieces. My first pieces were actually all made in New York, with different brightly colored silks. I used these vintage Rajasthani embroideries that I had collected when I was traveling in India, so each dress or blouse had a unique patch on it. I wanted to use those types of embroideries that are usually seen on tapestries and tunics, very sort of traditional looking, but put them in a different context and use them in a different way. 

How did you come up with the name abacaxi?

At first, I honestly didn't think too much about building a brand. But the word abacaxi came to me when I was designing that first capsule. It was winter. It was freezing in Brooklyn in February. And I had actually traveled to the coast of Brazil many years prior to that. It had been maybe eight years already. But certain memories from that trip just kind of came back to me. I've also always been obsessed with tropical fruit. And I remembered the way that the fruit sellers on the beaches in Brazil would yell out the names of the fruit. Abacaxi is such a musical word. They would stretch out the word for like 15 seconds, almost like a song. I wanted my brand to imbue that joyous sound. 

Ever since I started, I’ve learned that everybody has a different association with pineapples, the fruit or the word. For some, they're a symbol of good luck. Although it's a symbol of various things in different cultures, it's still universal in some sense, always happy or sweet.

Photographed by Naomi Joshi

What led you to want to start the brand? What’s your story of becoming interested in fields like design and storytelling? 

 It all started with a desire to use these traditional textile techniques, but bring them into an everyday wear context. I was so fascinated by the plethora of different embroideries and weaves from my heritage. As a textile designer, I wanted to just showcase all of these stunning fabrics in an authentic way, and also continue to give artisans more opportunities, since a lot of these crafts are disappearing. That was the impetus to start the brand.

What was your experience with textiles and that kind of craftsmanship prior to coming up with abacaxi?

 I studied visual art and comparative literature during my undergrad at Brown. In my artwork, I did painting and photography, but in my paintings, I used a lot of fabric, embroidery and hand beading. I was able to take a couple classes at RISD in their textile department, which were amazing. I also learned how to weave and dye - everything from spinning yarn to creating natural dyes. That’s where I got my foundation, and then years later, I was able to come back to it. I didn't even realize at the time how pivotal that information and knowledge would be. I then also did a semester abroad at Central Saint Martin's in London in their textile design department, where I did more weaving and silkscreen printing. So, I do have a pretty technical background in print, weave and textile. And knowing that, you can hopefully see that expertise in my line; all of the fabrics I use are custom designs. 

This upcoming season, Spring ‘22, I designed a plant-dyed, yarn-dyed fabric, which I'm really excited about. Now I’m doing custom weaves with Oshadi, a regenerative cotton farming coop in Tamil Nadu. Years ago when I first started the line I began by using silk that I sourced in New York alongside the vintage patches, but with my later collections, I began producing in India instead because I wanted to work with traditional Indian fabrics. There’s definitely been an evolution from then to now in terms of both design and sourcing.

Photographed by Enmi Yang

Is storytelling or narration integral to your art practice?

Absolutely. I'm happy you picked up on that because there's so many different stories woven into every piece and each of the collections. What I’m wearing [points to sweater & leggings] is part of the current Fall ‘21 collection, which I titled “Plants as People”. I was super inspired by plant intelligence. There was this winter hike that I took upstate, and I noticed that the forest had just turned kind of gray and brown. But suddenly, the mosses, the colors of the forest, actually started blossoming, looking so vibrant, and almost neon. There's the deep greens and the neon greens, I called it acid lime. So, that experience inspired the palette, but it also set me on this little path of research into moss and plant intelligence. I read this book called Gathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

It was just so fascinating to learn about how moss is the most simple plant life. It doesn't have roots, it doesn't have flowers. But they live in communities and communicate with each other. The author is a scientist, but she's also an indigenous woman from upstate New York and she brings together scientific knowledge and indigenous wisdom on plant intelligence. I find her work super fascinating. So, “Plants as People” is related to that whole journey, not just the palette, but I layered these things into the textile design. 

My Spring ‘22 collection, I called it “Stingray”. I have a fear of the ocean, of drowning. I love the beach. I love the ocean, but I don't go diving or dunk my head underwater. So, the very first time I went snorkeling, I overcame a big fear. However, it was also a pivotal experience as an artist because I, for the first time, saw this incredible multi-colored, psychedelic, underwater world. It was in Costa Rica. It literally blew my mind. So, sometimes I pull from memories that happened a long time ago. 

I was designing a print and I had this vision to use the motif of a stingray and a dragonfly. They're both very geometric and symmetrical. But then I thought: why am I thinking back to a stingray now? Why did that memory of the way that I saw this thing rise & move along the ocean floor, really stick with me? So I started researching what the symbolism of stingrays is, because for me, personally, I associated it with overcoming fear, and sort of transcending that. When I looked up the symbolism, it said that stingrays are a symbol of adaptability, which makes sense as they move along with the waves and the tide. So, my point is: there are a lot of personal stories and symbols weaved into my designs.

Talk to me a little bit more about sustainable production and ethical manufacturing. What does that mean to you?

Everything so far has been made in pretty small batches and limited editions. We're using a lot of hand tie dyeing techniques, literally each piece is unique in itself, as there's no way of not doing everything by hand when I use these techniques. With tie dyes, it’s never going to have the same exact placement. I now also do wholesale and some retail, so there is a uniformity to it to a certain extent. I'm also really excited because I now have two different production partners in India, as well as one in Peru for knit and crochet styles, and I’m working with artisans I met in Oaxaca, Mexico to make custom hand woven straw accessories and bags.

How did you find those production partners in India?

It took me a while to find both of them. People think that because my family's from there, I must have some type of connections. But I really didn't have any connections in the textile or garment industries. Nobody in my family does anything related to that, unfortunately. It wasn't easy to source at first. But at one point, when I traveled through Gujarat, I literally just met this weaver and asked him to weave some custom fabric for me. He was a mashru weaver, which is a beautiful fabric made out of silk and cotton. With mashru weaving, the silk is on the outside and the cotton is on the inner part. And so it's actually pretty thick and shiny. It's usually done in stripes or sometimes solid. I use the stripes to create a chevron on the body, with cutouts in a maxi dress in my 2014 collection. The only way to really work directly with an independant weaver like that is if you’re there with them, or if you have someone there to work locally. But since I am based here in the U.S., and I couldn't be here and there at the same time, I eventually did find a producer, in Delhi, that has a network of embroidery artisans and dyers they work with. And now, as I said, I'm also working with Oshadi in Tamil Nadu - I'm super excited to be working with them because they do everything from regenerative cotton farming, to spinning, to dyeing. I’m hoping to go to India this year and work with them in person. The pandemic has prevented me from traveling there the past couple of years. I'm so excited to see the regenerative cotton farm, too.

Photographed by Sheena Sood

Would you say that you have a target audience within your work? 

Honestly, when I began, I didn’t have a certain customer in mind. Obviously my work resonates with people who are either first gen or multi-cultural or bi-cultural, really anyone who has that kind of layered identity. My work resonates with those communities because of the way that I'm fusing cultures together, and the fact that I'm very inspired by not just memories from my childhood, but also more traditional silhouettes and clothing. I would actually love to design a line of sarees and lehengas someday. 

You’ve mentioned this idea of saturated color quite a bit. I'd love to know more about that.

I'm obsessed with colors. If you look at my visual art from before I started abacaxi, you can see that color unites all of my work: fashion, painting, photography, etc. I always sought out the saturated colors and am attracted to these rare saturated color combos. And I think that kind of just runs in my blood. Sometimes when I think about the way one of my cousins dresses, and the way my Dad chose colors, I really do feel like this color sense runs in the family. As a kid, the first time I went to India and I saw the way that people dressed and how drastically different people use color, it really stuck with me. 

I personally do really believe in the healing power of color. Each color carries a different energy. There's a reason why some of us are attracted to certain colors and not attracted to other ones. It's a very personal thing. I don't really believe in the fashion color rules that are like: “oh, these certain people can't wear the color yellow”. Those are all just made up. But if you're not attracted to yellow, then that’s different. I’m quite fascinated by color history and the meanings associated with that. I did one collection called “Color is a Cure” and the only inspiration was literally just color in itself. I don’t necessarily think there’s a singular theme that runs through my work but most collections have in some way been about our connection to nature, to earth, and to the natural world. 

In what ways are you playing with your heritage and your space of residency? What does that look like in your work? And how does that play out in your everyday life?

I think part of it is just nostalgia. The ways my mom would embellish our clothes or even her own when we were growing up. There’s something so Indian about that. She always wore western clothes, but she would put a line of rhinestones down the front of our little kids' dresses. I kind of played with that idea with my shisha linen dress, which has a line of shisha mirror work down the front. So, even though she was very modern and Westernized in the way she dressed, she also had these little things that were super Indian to me.

Sheena Sood

When we talk about abacaxi as a brand, what do safe spaces mean and look like to you? 

I think about my other experiences in the fashion industry, because I worked in the industry for so many years, prior to and while starting abacaxi. I had such a mixed bag of experiences. But now, having my own company, I really get to just do things my way and create the spaces that I didn't have or wasn’t included in. And that's pretty incredible. I did my first runway show in October, the “Stingray” show. And the casting was amazing. All the models had such a good time. Every one of them came up to me afterwards and said: “it’s never like this, ever”. Both for those that worked there and those that attended, the feedback was really positive. So, I'm happy that that's the space I've created - centering people of color, femmes and queer people. It was really cool to be able to bring a lot of the different creatives and also models who I've worked with in the past, all together at once. That was kind of my vision. 

What do you hope people will take away from your work? 

Through my work, I really want to just be able to continue to share these stories, whatever it is that I decide to tell that season. I hope people catch onto that, and possibly even learn something from their engagement with my work. With the clothing, there's a sense of wearing something that's ethically made and has a history to it. I want it to give you a feeling of joy; so that you can feel that you're wearing something with meaning behind it. 

How does plant dyeing work?

Before synthetic dyes existed, everything was naturally dyed. Around the world, there are so many different plants and materials that were traditionally used for dyeing, to achieve all the colors of the rainbow. There's a rich tradition of plant dyeing that stems from South Asia, which is no longer done that widely anymore. But also in Oaxaca, Mexico - I actually got an opportunity to go study plant dyeing there last year during my artist residency. I studied alongside this master dyer. Her name is Elsa. I became particularly interested in learning about cochineal, which is originally from the Oaxaca Valley, and now grows all over South America. It's actually an insect, so it's not technically a plant. But it's a natural dye that can be used to dye colors from orange, red, fuchsia to purple. It's very pH sensitive, so depending on what you mix it with, other colors will come out - you can control the shade a little bit, especially with silk. I found that fascinating. There actually is an insect that's used very similarly in India, called lac, which Oshadi, for example, doesn’t use, they only do plant dyes. And then indigo is also used - I’ve seen a lot of different dyeing methods with indigo. In Indonesia, they just use the actual leaf and ferment it. I once got to spend some time in Sumba, Indonesia with a master natural dyer there as well, during an independent solo trip. But in Oaxaca, they turn indigo into a powder and use that. I would love to just spend an entire year researching the history of natural dyes in different places around the world, because a lot of that information hasn't really been uncovered. 

These processes are just so special. There’s no waste - if anything, you’re actually using waste a lot of the time. You’re using parts of the plant or the tree that would otherwise be discarded. A lot of dyes come from bark or peels - a really easy at-home plant dye project is onion skins, whether they're purple or white. In the natural dyeing processes, there's also no chemical byproduct. The textile industry is so polluting because of the synthetic dyes, so using plant dyes eliminates all of that. Regenerative is the word that we use in the west, but it’s really just the ancient way of creating.

Photographed by Sheena Sood

How does abacaxi and/or your art practice allow for you to find healing and/or express yourself? 

I love that question. The creative part, and the actual part of making, designing and putting together these concepts, is so healing for me. The business part kind of takes over, but it’s all rooted in healing. It sometimes can be a way for me to process certain things happening in my life, the same way it would be for a writer or photographer in terms of telling their story. 

Before creating abacaxi, did you feel that you had a similar outlet through which you could express yourself? Was this platform an integral part of your healing?

It was an integral part because it felt like I was missing something in my life before. I’ve been able to really heal or focus on the artistic process through abacaxi. As an artist, it was a similar experience, and maybe I'll go back to making art in that way, some day. I still create artwork for the prints. I just did this watercolor print called “Moon Bubbles”, where I pieced together a bunch of my different watercolor paintings and kind of created this repeating pattern with it. I do a little bit here and there, but sometimes I think about going back to that full time. 

What does community mean to you? And have you been able to build community through abacaxi?

Definitely - being able to collaborate and work with different creatives, a lot of other Brown creatives. I've met a lot of people, like you, just like through Instagram, who have reached out because they love the brand or see something in what I'm doing. That’s really just the best feeling. I’ve also started to just make a lot of new friends through my work, which is always special.

Photographed by Curt Saunders

What moves and inspires you? Where does your inspiration come from? 

I'm really inspired by nostalgia, my heritage, the textile techniques themselves and just the intricacy. I'm so obsessed with learning about different processes, many of which I haven't even seen, because there's so many - literally every town and village has its own. In the past few years, I've been really inspired by the magic that happens through meditation and just the overall, inner spiritual world. Nature is so psychedelic, and when you look inwards and meditate, you notice it even more. Those moments where you are learning and you can literally just feel your brain expanding- that is inspiration. 

How have your frequent visits to India influenced the designs and styles that you are putting forth? 

As I explained earlier, my childhood experiences really influenced my vision in general, seeing the way that people use colors, seeing the different, traditional forms of dress and seeing just the richness of our history and of textiles. I would go shopping with my mom and my aunt, and I got to see the custom garment making process as a kid: going to the fabric store, going to the tailor, taking it to the embroidery, all that stuff fascinated me. That's definitely what made me want to become a designer in the first place, because I realized, oh, you can just design your clothes and have them made. You can't do that in the U.S., so that really informed my vision. I would sketch out things as a kid that I wanted the tailor to make. Garment-making is just more common knowledge, people know about fabrics, about cuts and about stitching, because you just get your own clothes made. Even shoes! I have really big feet, especially in India, my size is never available, but they're like: “oh, we’ll just make it your size”. And you can choose a color. I remember being like - wow, I can design my shoes too?! It goes back to what we were talking about in terms of waste. Only what’s needed is created. 

In what ways do you stay connected to your heritage? 

So many different ways, one of them is cooking; keeping the traditions of our family recipes and dishes alive. My mom, my aunt and my grandma are also very informed on ayurveda, and that's been passed down to me as well. There is actually an aspect of ayurveda that is about clothing - there’s such a thing as ayurvedic fabrics. It's not something that I've formally incorporated, but yoga is something that’s all encompassing, it’s an entire system. So, the plant dyeing traditions, it’s all part of that. The clothing that you wear on your skin affects your health. I’m very interested in that as well. I did a turmeric dyed silk slip, and I know that turmeric dyed fabric has healing properties. It’s an anti-inflammatory, so it’s naturally healing, really.