Gardeners use plant dyes to combat toxic chemicals used by fashion industry

Lottie Delamain (left): ‘People are beginning to question what’s in their clothes and where it’s coming from.’ Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

Gardeners are fighting back against the toxic chemicals used by the fashion industry – by using plants to dye their clothes.

The horticulturist Lottie Delamain created a garden for the activist movement Fashion Revolution at Chelsea flower show using plants that can be used to make fabrics and dyes. She became so enthused by experimenting with using plants to make clothes dyes that she has dyed many of her own garments using flowers and even tree branches from her own plot at home.