Sallyfox
Coming to Japan!
2023.9.20
Dr. Sally Fox
－ Encounter With Brown Cotton －
1985
Sally Fox’s fateful encounter with the brown cotton that was in her colleague's bag began her struggle to drastically change the common sense of the cotton industry.
At that time, brown cotton fibers were thick and short and could not be spun into thread by machines, so no one recognized its value and did not take advantage of it. Fox, who fell in love with brown cotton at first sight, did not want to give up, so she invested her own money, cultivated her own fields, crossed the cotton with long-fiber cotton, and began to improve the breed of brown cotton.
Despite many hardships and almost running out of funds, in the 1990s, they succeeded in improving the quality and were adopted by Japanese spinning companies and major American denim brands.
However, as the cotton Fox developed was increasing in popularity, pressure came from large-scale farms in California feared contamination of their white cotton, so the government of California asked Fox to leave. Then, in the 2000s, the spinning company they were doing business with went bankrupt, and the business, which had been going well, came to a standstill.
What saved her was an offer from Dorsey Alvarez, who approached her with the idea of growing cotton on his farm in New Mexico, and Taisho Boseki, the only spinning company in Japan to step up production using the cotton she developed.
Her dedication and the charm of brown cotton have touched the hearts of many people, gaining many admirers and spreading her work around the world. A revolution that drastically changed common sense in the cotton industry was started by just one person — Sally Fox.
Her cotton is now loved and used by many brands.
※私たちはこの文章の中で、サリーさんを”博士“と呼んでいます。
来日した彼女にこのことを話すと、“残念だけど博士の学位はとっていないの”と教えてくださいました。
私たちは、学位云々よりも、この研究に心血を注いでこられたサリーさんに敬意を表したいのでそう呼ばせてもらってもいいですか？とお聞きすると嬉しそうにはにかんで、“そういうことなら喜んでお受けするわ”とお答えいただきました。このような経緯からこのサイトでもサリーさんを博士として紹介させていただきます。
Rarity
Chawata Rarity
It seems that cotton in ancient times was usually brown in color. Today's white cotton was created through repeated breeding for its dyeability.
Sally Fox, on the other hand, went through a lot of trial and error in an attempt to revive this brown cotton into modern times.
The brown color is due to tannins, making this a strong type of cotton that is resistant to pests and can grow well with just organic fertilizer.
Coincidentally, a mutation occurred during the development of this species, resulting in green cotton.
This green cotton has the problem of poor lightfastness, but it has the mysterious property that after it changes color, if it is soaked in lukewarm water with baking soda for 24 hours, its green color will vividly return. Brown and green cotton are agricultural products, so there may be some color shading depending on the production period, but they are undyed organic cottons that are characterized by their natural colors.
Policy
In addition to researching plants as a biologist, Fox ran a handicraft class and taught handicrafts. Apparently, the daughter of one of her students in that class worked at a pharmaceutical company and became disabled as a result of the chemicals she handled. Fox was saddened by this and began focusing on research on pesticide-free/organic products.
One day, Fox found some brown cotton in her colleague's bag. In the world of wool, yarns made from originally colored wool such as black, brown, beige, and gray are familiar. She thought that if brown cotton could be bred properly, it could be made into thread that can be used without dyeing.
It may have been fate that she encountered tea cotton.
No matter how difficult the task, if Sally Fox believes in it, she pursues it with a single-minded attitude. The result of her passion is colored cotton, which is characterized by its natural and unadorned beauty.
It may be presumptuous, but we, her comrades at Nature Geek FC Planning, would like to pass on the light lit by this great pioneer to future generations.
母として
カラードコットンのパイオニアとして有名なサリー博士。
あまりフィーチャーされてきませんでしたが、実は娘さんが1人いらっしゃりワーキングマザーとして娘を育て上げた母親でもあります。
昼夜問わず研究に没頭する彼女にとって、研究と育児の両立はどんなに厳しかっただろうと質問をしてみました。
彼女は深くうなずきながら答えてくれました。
“確かに、皆さんにとってもそうであるように、私にとっても仕事と育児の両立は簡単じゃなかった。
娘が小さい時は畑に行くときは必ずおんぶしていったし、ある程度大きくなってからも近くに学校もナニーもいなかったから私たちはいつも一緒だった。”
それでも、と彼女は答えます。
“私が恵まれていたのは、私は事務所に働きに出るわけじゃないから身なりを整えたりしなくてもよかったこと。
それに自分ですべてを行っているから娘のことと研究作業の順番を入れ替えるのは難しいことじゃなかったこと。
結果それが娘の為になったのかはわからないけど、私にとって幸運だった。”
サリー博士が紹介してくれた写真の中の娘さんはどれも笑顔でいっぱいでした。
二人にとって大変なことはきっとたくさんあったに違いありませんが、娘さんにとっても母親と過ごした時間はとても貴重なものだったのではないかと感じます。
娘さんは今年で22歳。無事大学を卒業したのよ、と語るサリー博士はとても誇らしげでした。
決して平坦な道のりではなかったはずなのに、その苦労を少しも顔をしかめずに茶目っ気たっぷりに語る彼女彼女の前向きな人柄はその笑顔にも表れていて、彼女が育てたカラードコットン同様周囲を魅了する温かな魅力にあふれていました。