A birthday celebration last week took me to the delicious restaurant and bar Counter, NYC. It was vegetarian food at its best! The food was organic, wholesome and my favorite were these raspberries sprinkled over the birthday slice of cake.

The raspberries were on the smaller size, slightly discolored (with some baby pink patches) and they tasted quite tart. In all fairness – they were absolutely wonderful! I realized I’ve come to visualize fruit in it’s genetically over-sized, perfectly colored, pesticide laden form and this reminded me of my quandary with mass produced, disposable fashion.

This may be a stretch – but these raspberries represented everything that is good about local sustainable practices. We are starting to eat organic foods and purchase foods from local farms so why can’t the same logic be applied to the fashion and textile industry?

So much of the industry is currently focused on material selection, which is a positive natural step for creative designers who make beautiful things, and what I hope to promote with I Love Eco is a greater understanding of many other important ecological design principles that can be applied to fashion.

LOCAL SUSTAINABILITY is at the heart of a paradigm shift needed for us to leave our planet the same way we found it for future generations.