Time to get inspired! Today Life Made Simple proudly features Chicago Fashion Designer Lara Miller. A Chicago native, Laura Miller attended the School of The Art Institute where she developed her niche for creating garments out of Eco-friendly materials. She conceptualized her garments to focus on versatility, and allowing women to “Wear it Your Way.” Lara’s focus is mainly on sweaters, but whatever the garment is, it can be wrapped, reversed, and flipped to reveal an entirely different look.

The Lara Miller line is manufactured in Chicago and her designs are strongly influenced by the city’s architectural and cultural landscape. An advocate to giving back to the community, Lara acknowledges the impact humans have on the environment.  By making clothes with Eco-friendly materials, Lara hopes to preserve and respect the Earth any way she can.

“I see my company as a way to support my community – not only by using organic materials while adhering to a “green” lifestyle and workspace – but also by manufacturing locally and working to sustain the sewn products industry in Chicago.”              

 

When she sketches, Lara uses recycled craft papers like O-tag paper, which is used for store tags on clothing or other products from companies like Henry Lee, who would normally throw away the surplus. During the design process, Lara draws the markers out herself onto scrap paper instead of sending her patterns off to be entered into computers and printed.  Lara donates the left over scrap paper  to Columbia College instructor Jamie Thorne to use in her paper making classes.

Lara Miller strives to use colors that are exclusively from low-impact reactive dyes in her designs, that use the least amount of petroleum by products and water possible. She has also been proactive in researching ways of using only natural dye sources, putting to practical use natural dying techniques that she learned in school.

View Lara’s Newspaper Dress for the do-gooder design project

Lara Miller incorporates organic cotton, hemp, vegan Ahimsa peace silk, organic wool, linen, lyocell, flax and soy fibers, hand-loomed bamboo and recycled organic cotton in her garments. Her favorite material to use is recycled cotton yarn that she gets from US-based company Jimtex. The yarn from this company is regenerated from post-industrial scraps from larger companies that make t-shirts and other cotton products. In re-using these scraps the need for growing more crops and using dyes is minimized and this significantly reduces the amount of waste that goes into our landfills.

“Being a ‘green’ company means much more to me than just using eco-friendly fibers. It means supporting the local economy and using the least amount of energy possible. It means using a local printer that only uses recycled paper and partially runs on wind power. It means giving back in every way that I can to my employees, my community, and the world.”

Lara Miller is an innovative pioneer who  is helping sustain our planet through her Eco-friendly designs. Life Made Simple acknowledges Lara Miller as “one” person making a difference and applauds her integrity, hard work and dedication to her community, fashion, and the Earth.

Information and pictures on Lara Miller retrieved from www.laramiller.net

Feature by Evie Pesheva