Meet the Designer with an Eye for Fashion and Passion for the Environment

Sara Kirsner was like many a dissatisfied worker bee after graduating from college. Two years after finishing her degree, she remembers staring out her advertising job's office window in San Fran and feeling totally uninspired. At that moment she decided to take a risk, and applied to FIT and Parsons in New York City. Since she had been sketching clothes since she was eight and had a lifelong interest in fashion, she not only made it into school, but ended up interning at Marc Jacobs and DKNY and working in the design department of Ann Taylor.

Sara Kirsner, designer of Doie, wearing an organic cotton dress she designed with one of her dresses in silk.

A trip with friends to Hoi An in Vietnam -- known for a plethora of tailors who will whip up one-off designs to your specifications-– gave Sara the opportunity to get some samples made, and she brought them back to NYC, creating her first collection for her label, Doie in 2005.

"I had the rest of the samples made in NYC, but just seeing something go from paper to a tangible, wearable item of clothing, gave me the push that I needed to start the line," recalls Sara.

Eco Chick Editor Starre Vartan (that's me!) wearing an organic cotton dress by Doie.

Sara says she learned about the hazards of conventional cotton from her friend's mom, who owns vivaterra.com (an awesome website featuring eco-friendly products). "She loved my collection and asked if I could make a few pieces for her in a sustainable fabric such as bamboo or organic cotton," she says.

Having been raised by an environmentally conscious family made her sensitive to how what she did affected health and the environment. "Five of the most commonly used cotton pesticides in the U.S. (cyanide, dicofol, naled, propargite, and trifluralin) are known cancer-causing chemicals and classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as Category I and II Chemicals— the most dangerous chemicals class," says Sara. After learning how environmentally disastrous conventional cotton is, "I will never go back."

Sara's Inspiration Board for the upcoming season's designs.

Sara's designs are consistently inspired by nature (especially tropical locales) and Asia and Japan in particular. Sara says, "I am really excited about the Spring/Summer 2010 collection. It is my favorite so far! For this collection, I drew on the laid-back elegance of my California roots to create effortlessly sexy pieces that flatter a variety of body types. I tried to return to my design "roots," and used eye-catching Japanese-inspired prints with super soft bamboo jersey."

From Doie's Fall, 2009 'Paris' collection

Her clothes are locally made in LA (where Sara now lives), which cuts down on her carbon footprint and lets her have closer control over production. Besides designing her easy-to-wear ecofashions, she supports other designers as well. "I love Teich handbags and Charmone shoes. For jewelry, I love Molly M designs -- so cool and unique! I also love Kris Nations," she says.

Sara's grandmother Doie, (above) is one of her style icons and the line is named after her. Sara says, "Even at 90 she still has the most amazing outfits and she is always put together- even around the house! She and her friends love wearing the sweat suits that I design. They all live in Des Moines, Iowa and they are so glamorous!"

See more of Doie's designs here Spring, 2009 collection here, now on sale.

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