Heaven on Eairth

X

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

Powered by WP Greet Box WordPress Plugin

“I feel good about Eairth. It’s small right now but I think the formula is good,” she remarks with confidence. “It’s connected to all these elements that are very real, pure, and fun; from the weavers, the farmers, the tribes. Once it starts growing their communities will grow. It’s a nice system.”

As the whisperings of sustainable luxury cloud many a discussion, it is undeniable that its role in design is a dialect that can be understood by all. More than ever, we should coin the phrase, “you are what you wear.” Melissa, how does this relate to what you create?

“Sustainable luxury is the ethos of working in an ‘aware’ way involving all the processes around not just the materials, but in a most luxurious way, and luxury does not mean expensive. Luxury means real, luxury means pure, it’s sensitive to the touch. People buy into Eairth because they want to be in that life, a vision captured in places that the customer wants to connect with and through the clothes they feel that they can have that.”

After a five month excursion into the primal Philippine landscape and a complete departure from the fashion industry, it seems that even thousands of miles away, this journey brought you back to the very thing you love: fashion! Except now you approach it with a prominently organic mindset.

“Actually I wanted to leave it forever,” she sighs. “But I’ve realized it’s my destiny, a part of my fiber! As much as I’ve wanted to deny it or do something else, fashion always took me right back there, without me ever looking for it. When I got here [to the Philippines], I brought barely any clothes with me. I had a tiny bag w/ one pair of Levi’s shorts, a few bathing suits, three tee-shirts, and a sweatshirt. I was thinking that I would stay for four to five months to surf and travel. Then I fell in love with the landscape. Naturally I ran out of clothes, so I bought a ton of tee-shirts and cut them all up. Soon enough my aunt wanted some and then I wanted more and it snowballed from there. We searched for a tee-shirt manufacturer to make it so that we could start selling some to friends. Then I had an idea to make this an organic line and dye the shirts with flowers and leaves. It just happened, like that! And to boot, all the resources I needed were right here in the Philippines!”

The colors you’re able to capture really are quite unique in that they almost transform the fabric into this deeper element. Like the green you use makes one feel immersed in the sea, while the blush colors evoke the sensation of being embraced by petals.

“I think the special thing about Eairth is definitely the colors. I’ve done so much research on this and have found a majority of companies to use non-toxic, water-based dyes, vegetable dyes, tea and coffee stains. It’s still manufactured on the whole. Apart from certain indigenous tribes, India, and Buddhists, there aren’t many that I’ve found utilize this method of organic dying in an extensive way. With Eairth, for instance, we cultivated this beautiful subtle pink developed from sibukaw, a bark that’s similar to a balsa wood and used to make charcoal for cooking. I call this beautiful pink we’ve developed “lips.” Another source for pink are safflower petals but it’s not a stable dye and washes off easily. I’ve stopped using ‘tagalog’ words to describe the shades since it was getting a bit complicated for people to refer to, since the clothes are all tribal names already. Gets to be a bit of a mouthful if you know what I mean.”

What of your notions have changed involving fashion and moreover with Eairth?

“Hmm, I’m struggling with time right now! What’s happened is I’m refusing to look at this line as a typical ‘collection.’ I just want to make clothing that I want to wear, and that you would wear day in and day out.

Popularity: 40% [?]