From selling dresses made from upcycled saris in the parking lot at Grateful Dead concerts to selling organic cotton T-shirts in the aisles of 400 Whole Foods stores, Kate Fisher is a pioneer in the sustainable clothing space with nearly 30 years’ experience.
After founding Synergy Organic Clothing with her husband and business partner Henry Schwab in Santa Cruz, Calif., in 2005, and growing it into a B Corp-certified, women’s brand of casual knits sold under the label WVN For You exclusively at Whole Foods, now she is spinning off a more elevated collection.
Labeled simply WVN, it serves up “casual put-together” clothing designed for “women who want to love the world and look good doing it,” she said. Everything is made in Fair Trade Certified factories using GOTS certified fabrics.
The fall collection features foundation layers, including cozy organic cotton ribbed sleep shorts, oversize cardigans, joggers, leggings and bra tops in earthy hues like maple sugar, blue spruce and peachy keen. Cotton chambray jumpsuits, carnation or leaf block-printed blouses and solid Khadi cotton shirt dresses made in partnership with artisans in India are among the more put-together items in the casual offerings.
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“My favorite pieces come from heritage fabrics. The block prints are all hand done in a tradition that dates back to 1000 BC,” said Fisher, who started her journey in apparel in the early ’90s when she took a break from studying at UC Berkeley and bought a one-way ticket to Kathmandu. She developed a passion for the traditional fabrics and embroideries of Nepal and India, incorporating them into clothing to sell at concerts and festivals back home. “I also have a huge passion for Khadi fabric, which is hand-spun and hand-loomed. Gandhi was a proponent of keeping that tradition alive in India.”
Fisher plans to drop a capsule each month focusing on a new print and color story.
WVN, which retails for $52 to $288, is available at shopwvn.com, and select retailers including Sylvester & Co in Sag Harbor, Park Story in Washington, D.C., and Wendy Foster in Montecito, Calif.
