Idia’Dega: Eco-Fashionista (Kenya Dig It?)
Friday, June 5th, 2009 | by BeMockDTereneh Mosley, Pittsburgh native, moved to Los Angeles a few years ago after studying culture and fashion at the University of Kenya. Working with a scholarship from the Rotary Club designed for study abroad, Mosley had five countries to consider: England, France, Australia, New Zealand and Kenya. The African nation was admittedly not her first choice. Nor did Kenya seem happy to have the Westerner when she arrived. After bungled housing plans left her temporarily adrift on the dirt streets of Nairobi, Mosley was met with hostility at the university by America-hating staff. But once the dean intervened, granting Mosley grace and a certain diplomatic immunity, the not-quite-native daughter began her voyage to Idia’Dega.
Idia’Dega is Mosley’s eco-conscious fashion line — “elegant ethical apparrel for men and women.” Inspired by Kenyan organic cotton farmers, Mosley opted to use exclusively organic fabrics and materials: cotton, bamboo, soy, hemp, recycled sari and kimono silks. She’s part of a growing movement that understands that resources are becoming more scarce, and the processes to create our wardrobes have become to taxing with emissions. The tragedy is that while Africa is least responsible for overconsumption of resources, and greenhouse gas emissions, they are and will continue to be the hardest hit by the consequences through famines, droughts and increased warming.
I caught up with Mosley in L.A. over Cinco de Mayo to talk about how her eco-vision came to fruition:
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