I used to think sustainable fashion meant better materials. Then, a $250 cashmere cardigan changed my mind drastically.

dress i made via organic undyed organic pima cotton

I'm a knitwear designer. For a long time I thought sustainability was about what you make things from. Organic cotton, natural dyes, ethical supply chains. All of that matters. But it wasn't the whole answer.

About 3 years ago I bought two things the same week. A cotton t-shirt from a brand that marketed itself as sustainable. And a cashmere sweater that cost me $250.

The t-shirt had a hole after 2 washes. The cashmere pilled after a couple of wears. Honestly, I felt like I threw close to $400 down the drain between these 2 purchases.

That's when it hit me. Sustainability isn't just about the material. It's about whether the thing you bought is still in your closet in 10 years.

The real shift was accepting that the most sustainable garment is one you actually keep. Which means it has to be worth keeping. Which means the design, the craft, the intention behind it has to earn its place in your life. That realization is what led me to start my own brand.

I stopped asking "how do I make more" and started asking "what is actually worth making." It's a harder question than it sounds. The pieces I make have to count.

Design and prototyping takes me close to a year to get right. What goes into production ends up being around 40 pieces. Each one made entirely by a single knitter, by hand, hundreds of hours. When they're gone I don't restock. I go back to the drawing board and design something new that earns its place.

Fast fashion trained me to consume. And honestly it's designed that way. Things are made cheaply and meant to wear down fast so you buy again. I want to make the opposite. I don't know if I've fully figured it out yet. But I know I'd rather make 40 things that matter than 4000 things that don't. I think I'm at the point in my life where I want to create things that have meaning: either helping communities, making people feel confident, or, actually, just having people feel joy. To me, that matters way more than anything else I can do.