Meet the Designer Behind the Earth Bitch® Clothing Brand
An up and coming sustainable fashion designer, Tara Lynn was nick named Earth Bitch, when she was a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. She dreamed of moving to Vermont and starting a natural fiber clothing company. Her peers thought she was crazy.
As a teen she was passionate about art, fashion and beauty. Every day of high school was a fashion show. She transformed her mother’s vintage plaid bell bottoms into a jacket, made an outfit out of a pink table cloth with pompom fringe and constructed and beaded her prom dress. Her original creations were featured in a high school fashion show. With wild hair and makeup, inspired by John Paul Gaultier runway models, Tara Lynn spent hours making outfits, matching every selection down to her coat, underwear and shoes.
“I must have owned a hundred pair of shoes. Then, slowly, my priorities shifted from one extreme to another. I began to see a darker side of fashion, the industry and the world.” – Tara Lynn
Early on Tara Lynn also had a passion for nature, a natural wild spirit and wasn’t afraid to work hard or get dirty. She met and fell in love with her husband Evan. He took her on adventures in the woods; hiking, camping and canoeing. They soon started taking road trips through the mountains in Vermont.
Finding Purpose
“I began to research the effects the fashion industry was having on water quality in other countries. I learned that cotton was one of the most polluting crops in the world due to it’s demand for pesticides.” – Tara Lynn
While in college, Tara Lynn considered switching majors to study environmental law. This wasn’t an option so she searched Manhattan for any environmentally friendly fashion companies that she could work for. She found found a sales position at Hemp Instead, a cute boutique in Hell’s Kitchen. She began selling her first collection of hemp fashion and custom hemp clothing at this boutique in 1999.
Building a Future Together
After falling in love with the mountains of Vermont and each other, Tara Lynn and Evan bought 92 acres and an off grid camp. They fled Long Island for the greatest adventure of their lives. They have since built a home and two businesses. Surrounded by a lifelong collection of colorful vintage fabrics, lace, beads, buttons and trim Tara Lynn runs her natural fiber clothing company, Tara Lynn, LLC. Evan runs his own machine shop and repairs vintage air cooled Volkswagens and classic cars.
“I work by hand melding my love of nature into my passion for fashion and art. I have always seen art and fashion as a form of expression.” – Tara Lynn aka Earth Bitch
Sewing Her Passions Together
Today the sustainable fashion designer makes wearable art jackets dedicated to endangered species under the brand Earth Bitch. She also makes hemp wedding dresses and suits under the Tara Lynn label. Clients travel from all over the U.S. for a garment they will love forever.
Tara Lynn has been making custom natural fiber clothing and hemp wedding gowns since 1999. She began making and selling her wearable art Earth Bitch® Jackets, in 2005, Each garment is dedicated to endangered species, like butterflies, trees, elephants, frogs, wildcats, rhinos and unfortunately the list is far too long.
“My art, my eye, my passion for needlework and hobby as a naturalist all continue to evolve.
My love of nature is shared by my clients and is incorporated into each garment with embroidered birds and butterflies, hand painted trout or appliquéd mushrooms. I continue to use recycled fabrics and sustainably sourced materials as my canvas; working primarily with natural fabrics like organic cotton, silk, linen and hemp blends I make eco couture.”
– Tara Lynn
