Roua Alhalabi is a natural dye researcher and sustainability-driven entrepreneur whose practice connects chemistry, traditional knowledge and ecological thinking. She grew up on a farm and had a grandmother who worked as a dyer. As a child, Roua would experiment intuitively with plants from the garden, rubbing leaves, roots and flowers onto walls simply to discover what colors they might reveal. At the time, her curiosity was not about cultivation itself, but simply about raw natural materials turning into color.
Years later, a turning point came when she encountered the indigo plant. This meeting fundamentally shifted her relationship with plants, marking the moment she fell in love with growing her own dye sources. Indigo became both a material and a teacher, deepening the complex chemistry hidden within living systems.
From a young age, Roua recognized the close connection between natural dyes, food waste, plant residues, and sustainability. What is often labeled as “waste,” she understood instead as a valuable resource; peels, pits, leaves and stems that could be reactivated as pigments. This mindset later became central to her work: rethinking linear systems and transforming by-products into meaningful materials.
She went on to study chemistry, which provided her with a scientific framework to understand molecular interactions, extraction processes, and material behavior. Combining this analytical knowledge with hands-on experimentation, Roua founded her own natural dye atelier and business. Her practice focuses on developing locally sourced natural dye pigments and adaptable dye methods that respond to specific environments, climates, and available resources rather than relying on standardized global supply chains.
Roua works closely with textile designers, material researchers, and companies, supporting them in rethinking how textiles can be produced more sustainably. Rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions, she collaborates on process development, helping partners understand materials, limitations, and possibilities within natural dye systems. For her, working with businesses, schools, cultural institutions, and research environments is essential to building a new, resilient system that can have long-term impact. Collaboration across disciplines is at the heart of her approach; she believes that designers, scientists, growers, and makers can complement one another and thrive together when knowledge is shared.
She often describes herself as both an entrepreneur and a witch, a reflection of how her practice balances science and intuition. While chemistry explains much of what happens in dye processes, there are moments when formulas fall short. In those cases, Roua relies on sensory awareness, gut feeling, and a deep connection to material and color to determine next steps. This openness allows space for discovery and unexpected results.
Her research frequently draws on historical dye recipes and traditional techniques. By studying their cultural and ecological contexts, she investigates how these methods can be meaningfully adapted for contemporary use. A recurring focus in her work is the question of scale: how natural dyeing can be expanded responsibly without damaging ecosystems, and how local industry might integrate plant-based dyes while balancing a healthy ecosystem and the implementation of natural dyes for the (local) industry.
Currently, Roua continues her research and works on a variety of colorful projects with partners interested in sustainable textile futures!
More about her work can be found at: www.rouaatelier.com