“I am from northwest Connecticut, a town called Washington. Rolling hills and cows. I had 90 kids in my high school class. It is pretty small. I grew up on a peach farm — peaches, apples, apricots, cherries. It was my science teacher’s farm. I worked there for 4 years every summer.

Every summer we would hand pick away 50% of the fruits from the trees. It was methodical. It developed in me an amazing work ethic. I developed an appreciation for this slow, methodical, organic process.”

“But all the while I always had a sewing machine and learned the art of clothing construction at age 11. I ended up applying to eight different art schools with a portfolio full of photos of recycled clothing creations from my senior year fashion show.”

I am the only artist in the family. My dad owns a second generation construction business, Ross Construction, and has built every house I have ever lived in. The entrepreneurial spirit runs in my family.”

“I am a fire spinner. I practiced with a group of people, and applied to spin at Burning Man… and got in. I got to attend with all these amazing people whom I met and practiced for months with in Brooklyn.

I don’t think I need to go back ever again. But, there is the whole culture of people who are amazingly attracted to this Burning Man culture. I was just fascinated by it… all the strange humans I encountered.”

“After I graduated from Pratt, my friend and business partner, Kristin Culmo, and I created Hanoux, our shibori dyed active wear clothing line. Our first 2014 Elemental Collection consisted of leggings, shorts, tunics, sport bras, and bodysuits.

We retail our yoga wares at Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, Hamptons Bay. We have six different colors and six different patterns that the yoga studios could choose. They really like the process. They have been able to pick the colors and pick the patterns and some even incorporate them in their studio itself: ‘We just did the yellow wall treatment in the sun sanitation room!’ They are excited. It has been very successful.”

“Hanoux is currently exploring the non-digital textile processes… Dyeing, weaving, sumanagashi, screen printing, block printing.

Dyeing is a labor intensive process and we’ve developed specific ways to make our own original dye patterns. We will explore different methods and textitles eventually. Our most recent collaboration was with Area Environments developing patters for luxury wallpapers!

We’re also experimenting and researching Shibori. There are a lot of texts on how to do it and we interpreted it in our own way. There is this library called Ratti Textile Library in the MET. This is a library that you have to make an appointment to go to. There are all these beautiful textile books you cannot take out. You can take a look at it during the day at the library. I spent a lot of time there. There are a lot of secret libraries in New York.”

“Natural dyeing uses products that are based from natural materials like plants, or animal products, or certain dirt, sticks, or bugs…to make the colors. There has been a movement for using natural dyes, exploring different ways and trying to make them more widespread.

We use fiber reactive dyes and our process involves a low water immersion technique, only a couple of cups of water for each yard. Common dying practices you need three times the amount of water for the garment and all that waste goes into the water system.

We definitely want to experiment with natural dying. It is a lost art form. It is more sustainable. The textile industry has mostly used chemical dyes for the last hundred years, and it’s time for a change.”

“I’m interested in making activewear that is more and more sustainable and more and more natural. I myself am very active. I ride a bike and go to yoga… But I don’t like to wear any of the activewear clothing out there, because it is mostly synthetic fabrics.

Hanoux uses all natural materials, cotton and silk jerseys. It is a challenge to bring natural methods and fabrics into the consumer market and create what is called athleisure: athletic leisure wear.”

“I am always curious about the processes people employ…trying to figure out how they are doing things. Sometimes you just don’t know how they are making their textiles.

Sewing and dyeing are crafts…and all garments are touched by human hands. Every single one of them. People assume I can buy this $7 T-shirt because a machine must have made it, but that is not true. Human hands touch everything.

Developing that sort of understanding and employing that across all of my clothing is something I want to investigate and figure out.”

“While at school I applied for one competition to design the Bellevue Hospital hospice uniforms. They wanted to design new attire for nurses to wear. They wanted unisex, comfortable, modern, new, and practical. I went up there, visited the nurses, and talked to them, having conversation with some of the hospice nurses. They hug patients and love them and eat with them before their last moments of life.

So I designed a uniform and I actually won. Now all hospice nurses in the Bellevue Hospital wear uniforms I created. Currently I am freelancing and creating a sexy and sleek lab coat for veterinarian professions with Kevin Marrin out of Ontario, Canada… It is going to be sold internationally. Along with my own active wear line I very much enjoy designing practical clothing to make people function and move better through their life.”

“Some of my work started as artwork, sculpture, and now is a fashion product. I try to make everything original. I try to pull from color, natural form, natural shape. I try to stay clear of images used previously by someone else.”

“Four elements are the driving force in much of my work — earth, water, fire, and air— cloud imagery, air imagery, fire, etc.”

“One process I use you take a bath of water. And you drop an oil-based ink on top of it. You then roll the ink around and make a pattern you want. And you take the silk… it has to be silk. It has to be natural fiber. You lay it on top and pull it off. It takes the pattern that was drawn by the ink on top of the water. This process is an ancient Japanese art called sumanagashi.”

“My newest collection, Future Fossils is a visual representation of the spiritual energy that flows through our bodies. I use sacred geometry and symmetrical seaming to express this.

The six pointed star or two overlapping triangles represents the Anahata heart chakra, expressing love for ones self and a love for others. In my work it represents unity, growth, and gratitude.

The prints and dye patterns in this collection are organic and spontaneous, reflecting the relentlessness of Mother Nature, and how closely linked chaos and order are in the natural rhythm of life. I am going to hand screen-print rock texture onto rip stop nylon…making unisex snap off pants and a matching windbreaker.”

“It is always good to change. Everything changes. People want the same thing every year, which is not me at all. I want a new experience all the time. It’s just a thought process, a curiosity… seeking human fulfillment, seeking some sort of beautiful freedom I think we all have inside of us.”