Hello from Paris! I’ve only been here for two weeks, and I’m loving it here. On July 1st I started summer courses at l’Ecole Superieure des Arts et Techniques de la Mode, a fashion university in the Montmartre district of Paris, and I have been lucky to meet people that are very willing to help me with my portfolio and who support sustainable fashion. In Paris, “la mode ecologique et ethique” (ecological/ethical fashion) is above all a philosophy of design. My fashion drawing and design teacher Christian Tournafol recently founded an “ethical” fashion company and has explained to me how the French see sustainable fashion: it’s a philosophy in which every step of the production process should be organic. Ideas should be organically derived from an individual designer’s interests and the fabric should be organically produced. During my drawing classes, I have been trying to work on the first of his suggestions, letting what inspires me be the main impetus for my designs and allowing a sustainable philosophy to be the overarching theme of each individual piece. I have found this way of thinking about sustainable production very freeing. Over the next month I will be working a lot with Christian on my designs and conducting some interviews with him – here is the link to his company, Les Racines du Ciel (http://www.les-racines-du-ciel.com/accueil.php).  They’ve produced some very interesting lines over the last year, using interesting fabrics like traditional Chinese mud and potato coated silk.  Below are photos of some of my preliminary sketches for my portfolio.  Some are very inspired by the kimono, a very sustainable garment because there are no curved fabric cuts and thus no scraps and waste.  The other sketches are transformations of existing garments, a very sustainable concept and a great creative exercise.  Enjoy!