Fashion First gives you a Bio for Designer: Abi Farrin

Abi Ferrin Bio:

You recycle, you BYOB your own reusable water bottle to yoga and you’ve managed to reduce your ever-gleaming carbon footprint by picking up a bike at last weekend’s garage sale. You feel pretty good about your environmental awareness in a climate which reeks of social cause and “green is good,” discourse. But you have a small secret that only a clothing designer could love; your closet is bigger than Carrie Bradshaw’s whole apartment! Your last 5 purchases on debit were to Barney’s shoe department and you refuse to give up your mad style for anyone, let alone environmentalism! Well, nowadays you don’t have to. Designers are taking note, offering up sustainable fabrics, fair-trade notions and fashion with a cause so that you don’t have to feel a smidge of guilt when you rack up that Visa bill. Stella McCartney manages it beautifully; Edun has a huge fashion following, along with Rogan and Loomstate. And now you can also add the stylish Abi Farrin to that list.

Ferrin, 31, is a Wyoming native who grew up “living off the land.” Her upbringing was sustainable long before the term was literally in “Vogue.” She always loved to sew, but it took some time for her to cultivate her craft. Her firm belief that you can create, grow and benefit the community is at the heart of her creations. She employs impoverished Nepalese and Cambodia women to create fabric notions, thereby contributing to her cause of choice. Many of these women were former sex slaves and by giving them something to create and earn a living off of she is giving back to women and the land. She creates effortless and beautiful ready-to-wear clothing for women who both want to be fashionable and feel good about what they purchase to wear. Thus, Ferrin seeks “…not only to dress women, but empower them.”

But don’t think Ferrin’s designs are at all earthy. Envision this list of hip celebrities who are among her fans: Molly Sims, American Idol’s Carrie Underwood Vanessa Williams, Dayna Devon, Host of Extra and many more waltz down the red carpets in her hip, never hippie, and fresh designs. Now that is something even Ms. Bradshaw would stamp her stiletto of approval upon!

Ferrin has just applied for the CFDA award and previously she won Texas’ Top Designer. This award afforded her free rent, a design studio and a $25,000 grant and enormous press.

Abi Ferrin is available at The Finerie in Seattle as well as online at: abiferrin.com