©2007-2010 Summer Rayne Oakes | All Rights Reserved
Made-By and Edun Live partnered up to run a tee-shirt design competition in Amsterdam a few months ago at the Made By Anniversary summit. Check out the winning design above.
Next month I’ll release a collaborative design with Edun Live and Yoox.com, so stay tuned for the release – just in time for the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day!
If you haven’t seen our new zoe&zac campaign styled by Patricia Field of Sex and the City and Ugly Betty fame, then here it is. I was sporting my favorite shoes of the entire Fall collection – the Mulberry lace-up Chukka boots. I just wore them on a muddy photo shoot in upstate New York for Sublime Magazine, but I’m happy to report that the eco-friendly faux suede cleans well with a damp cloth.
We crafted this Chukka-inspired boot with a faux suede certified by Oeko-Tex Standard 100, upper laces are made with recycled PET, inner contrasting liner is made with organic cotton mesh; insole is an eco-friendly EVA lined with organic cotton and recycled rubber outsole. Not too shabby. And a definite unisex shoe for guys and girls. I only had the camel-colored pair at home so I went to the Payless on Broadway and picked up the last pair of black boots in size 10. Sweet!
Jasmin Lill
June 2009 – Courier Times – “She’s more than a model with a cause”
She’s been dubbed “The Eco-Model” but Summer Rayne Oakes is much more than just a pretty face.
Oakes has been compared to environmental activist Al Gore, and will speak at the second annual Greenfest this weekend at Brisbane’s City Botanic Garderns. “I don’t necessarily just call myself a model, because it diminishes the point of what I’m trying to bring across,” she said.
“I hated the term [Eco-Model] first because you want people to take you seriously and my background is in environmental science and sustainable development.
Oakes will only work with environmentally- and socially-relevant companies, designers and programs, which often use her [not only as a model/spokesperson] but also as a sustainability strategist.
“I didn’t want people to reduce it to ‘Oh she just wears eco-clothes,’ because that’s not what it is all about,” Oakes said.
The American model also hosts shows on Discovery Channel’s, Planet Green network, and is now the sustainability strategist and face of a U.S. shoe brand that launched a line of more sustainable shoes [zoe&zac].
“It’s not as if I’m going on casting calls like most girls do,” she said.
“It’s oftentimes speaking with the CEOs, Presidents or founders of companies on a business level.”
Oakes says the environment is her passion.
“The environment defines my work and is who I am,” she said. “I’m happy I’ve been able to trailblaze a new career.”