EPN Signature Earth Day Event - Monday, April 21, 2025: Farm to Fashion: Natural fiber footprints and futures

Image of a stack of clothing with fields of cotton and sheep in the background.

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Program Overview

On Earth Day 2025, Ohio State’s Environmental Professionals Network will host a free event examining the sustainability stories of natural fibers from farm to fashion. Ensuring sustainability in the fashion industry requires a significant variety of leaders at different stages of the supply chain, ranging from agricultural producers to fashion designers and even to consumers, to implement pro-environmental decisions. From reducing the impact of fiber production by employing regenerative agricultural practices, to limiting carbon emissions by transitioning from importing fibers to sourcing fibers from local farms, and to encouraging consumers to opt for purchasing clothing that is sustainably sourced, there is a lot of ground to cover in the “farm to fashion” space. 

The EPN’s 2025 Signature Earth Day program will attempt to cover some of that ground by bringing together nearly a dozen expert speakers and exhibitors who will weave together the sustainability stories of four types of fibers: Wool, cotton, hemp, and flax. During the event’s evening presentations, after introductions from “farm to fashion” leaders Dr. Tasha Lewis, Lisa Goldsand, and Dr. Helen Trejo, we’ll hear agricultural and fashion stories for each of these four fibers. Each fiber will be described through Pecha Kucha-style storytelling, which involves speakers narrating their fiber's sustainability journey through 15 images, each shown for 20 seconds. 

Wool and cotton fibers are mainstays in both the historical and contemporary composition of our clothing; the two fibers share a mixed bag of beneficial and harmful procurement practices. We’ll hear from positive forces in the sustainable procurement of wool and cotton (speaker biographies below), including: Laurel Shouvlin and Celeste Malvar-Stewart (wool), and Sarah Moore, Matt Griffin, and Bill Bridgeforth (cotton). 

Unlike wool and cotton, hemp and flax are examples of up-and-coming fibers that make up a relatively small percentage of the fiber market in contemporary garment production. Despite their smaller footprint in today’s market, both have rich agricultural histories and are gaining momentum in sustainable fashion production circles, largely due to leaders like speakers TJ Richardson & Justin Helt (hemp) and Abbe Turner & Lily Turner (flax). Sustainability strategies in the hemp and flax emerging markets present opportunities that can be extended into other, larger impact fibers like cotton and wool. 

Prior to the main presentation portion of the event, you’ll want to join us at the Fawcett Center at 4:30 p.m. for an excitingly large variety of exhibits, including tables and show-and-tell items related to wool, cotton, hemp, and flax fibers in fashion. The program will also feature posters from nearly 25 Ohio State Environment and Natural Resource senior capstone projects. Even more, the event will highlight nearly 40 National Science Foundation EmPOWERment trainees, who will present their sustainability research project posters. Also at the event, sponsored by the Environment and Natural Resource Alumni Society (ENRAS), Dr. Tim Haab (director, SENR) will lead the induction of the Class of 2025 ENR Honorary 100 members! 

Farm to Fashion: Natural fiber footprints and futures is a free public event, hosted in-person at The Fawcett Center in Columbus, Ohio, and virtually, worldwide, through the EPN YouTube channel livestream. 

 

Agenda

4:45 p.m. Doors open, food and beverage served.

The following exhibits will be open from 4:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

  • Wool Fiber Exhibits: Hancock Room

  • Cotton Fiber Exhibits: Hancock Room 

  • Hemp/Flax Fiber Exhibits: Franklin-Hamilton Room 

  • SENR Senior Capstone Posters: Clinton and Delaware Rooms 

  • National Science Foundation EmPOWERment Program Student Posters: Club Room 

5:45 p.m. Welcome remarks in Ballroom; livestream service begins. 

Tim Haab, PhD, director, Ohio State’s School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR) provides welcome remarks and ENR Honorary 100 Induction. 

6:00 p.m. Tasha Lewis, PhD, clinical associate professor, Department of Human Sciences, The Ohio State University, and Lisa Goldsand, Circular Thrift, LLC, outline program themes. 

6:15 p.m. Helen Trejo, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Apparel Merchandising and Management, Huntley College of Agriculture, presents an overview of her research program on farm to fashion topics in wool and cotton, including specific projects with students that focus on creating a "virtual reality" agricultural experience for people to better visualize sustainable agricultural fiber production.

6:30 p.m. Farm to fashion stories for three important fibers: wool, cotton, and hemp. The speakers listed below will provide complementary agricultural and fashion viewpoints for each of the three fibers through a “Pecha Kucha”-style presentation, which is a story-telling format where presenters share 15 photographs for 20 seconds each. 

  • Jess Boeke & Sarah Pottle (Rust Belt Fibershed) showcase how the Rust Belt Fibershed weaves together growers and producers to elevate the importance of local fiber, local color, and local labor in the fashion supply chain.

  • Laurel Shouvlin & Celeste Malvar-Stewart illustrate their wool fiber partnership from alpaca farm to runway. 

  • Bill Bridgeforth & Troy Bridgeforth (Bridgeforth Farms) and Sarah Moore (Victoria’s Secret Co.) present a farm to fashion story for cotton.

  • TJ Richardson & Justin Helt (Ohio Hemp Co.) provide an overview of the historical and contemporary agricultural production of hemp as a fiber.

  • Abbe Turner (Common Greens) & Lily Turner share their family's flax journey, from farm to garment.

7:30 p.m. Dr. Haab concludes program. Livestreaming service concludes for virtual attendees. 

 

Speakers

Tasha LewisTasha Lewis, PhD, Nina Mae Mattus Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Human Sciences, Ohio State University

As an associate professor at Ohio State, Dr. Lewis teaches courses in Fashion and Retail Studies. Prior to joining the College of Education and Human Ecology, she was an associate professor at Cornell University where she taught courses in fashion design management and served as a contributing faculty member for Bank of America’s Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell. She is widely published in journals such as the Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, Fashion Practice and the Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Fashion, Style, and Popular Culture and is a member of Educators for Socially Responsible Apparel Practices. Dr. Lewis received her PhD in Apparel Design from Cornell University, and her MS and Bachelor’s degrees in Textile & Consumer Science and Spanish Language & Literature, respectively, from Ohio State. 

Lisa GoldsandLisa Goldsand, Founder, Circular Thrift, LLC

In her work at Circular Thrift, LLC, Lisa develops strategies to support the advancement of the circular economy in textiles. She works on projects which explore meaningful local action that are scalable and repeatable at a regional, national, and global level. For fiber-to-fiber textile recycling, Lisa is working towards identifying strategies for how to scale collection and sortation of post-consumer textile waste. She has expertise in strategic planning and roadmap implementation, supply chain optimization, and product lifecycle management. Prior to founding Circular Thrift, Lisa held leadership positions at Abercrombie and Fitch Co. and Jones Apparel Group. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and several sustainability certificates from Harvard University. 

Helen TrejoHelen Trejo, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Apparel Merchandising and Management, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. 

Dr. Trejo teaches textile science, apparel construction, and research courses at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Her research explores the intersections of fibers, fashion, agriculture, and technology to support a local clothing and textiles economy. She has surveyed and interviewed several U.S. small business owners and entrepreneurs who are part of a farm-to-fashion value chain for sustainable fashion. She is currently collaborating in interdisciplinary teams to address sustainability issues in the apparel industry. Dr. Trejo received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Fiber Science & Apparel Design from Cornell University, and her bachelor’s degree in Design from the University of California, Davis. 

Helen TrejoSarah Pottle & Jess Boeke, Co-Founders, The Rust Belt Fibershed

Twin sisters Sarah Pottle and Jess Boeke are educators, textile artists, educators and ecological advocates. Their work focuses on place-based regenerative systems. They co-founded the Rust Belt Fibershed in 2018 after moving back to the Cleveland area, where they were born and raised. Since then, Sarah and Jess have been working to catalyze a bioregional textile ecosystem through a "farm-to-fashion" approach, while building robust community networks across the region. Their collaborative art installations, events, and programs transform sustainable fibers into vehicles for connection, helping all parts of a circular textile supply chain- from producers to consumers- find their place within the local textile culture. Sarah and Jess share many projects, also co-founding Drift Lab Earth, which offers creative experiences that reconnect people with living systems. Both of them are passionate about how community-centered approaches can revitalize regional economies, address sustainability challenges, but moreover, support more life in so many ways.

Laurel ShouvlinLaurel R. Shouvlin, Co-Owner, Bluebird Hills Farm

Laurel has been fiddling around with fiber since she was in elementary school and learned to knit. In high school she learned to weave and spin, but lost touch with doing much fiber art at all due to college studies, work and then raising a family. Laurel and her husband ran an organic vegetable business and wanted to diversify into some livestock which led, in 1998, to raising Suri alpacas. The experience has taught her all about this fascinating animal’s husbandry and veterinary care as well as brought her back to the fiber arts. Over the last few years, Laurel has become a member of the Suri Network Board of Trustees, judged alpacas from Australia to Austria, collaborated with Celeste Malvar-Stewart (getting a peek at the fashion industry), and taken a trip to Peru last fall where she participated in a Chaccu.

Celeste Malvar-StewartCeleste Malvar-Stewart, Professor, Columbus College of Art and Design 

Celeste Malvar-Stewart is a Columbus-based fashion designer who has over 25 years of experience focusing on sustainable design in couture, high-end fashion, and fiber art. She is an Adjunct Professor of Fashion Design at Columbus College of Art and Design. She works closely with Ohio family farms, including alpaca and sheep farms in Ohio, to obtain luxury fibers from happy animals (she knows every animal whose fiber she uses by name!) to create zero waste pieces with minimal carbon footprint. With these fibers, she makes couture dresses, skirts, scarves and vests under her label MALVAR = STEWART at her studio in Columbus' German Village neighborhood. She holds an M.S. in Fashion & Apparel Design from Eastern Michigan University, and a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Fashion & Apparel Design from Regent’s University London. 

Celeste Malvar-StewartTJ Richardson, Co-Founder and President, Ohio Hemp Company

TJ Richardson is the co-founder and President of The Ohio Hemp Company, a leading agricultural producer of fiber and grain hemp in Ohio. TJ also works as a Venture Advisor and Startup Mentor at The Tim & Kathleen Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship at Ohio State. Born and raised in the birthplace of innovation, Montgomery County, OH, TJ is a proven leader with over 15 years of technology, startups, entrepreneurship, fundraising, research and development experience. 

Celeste Malvar-StewartBill Bridgeforth, Owner, Bridgeforth Farms

Bill Bridgeforth is a fourth-generation farmer in Tanner, Alabama. He runs Bridgeforth Farms, which grows cotton, corn, wheat, soybeans, and canola using a variety of cutting-edge agronomic techniques and land conservation practices. Bill graduated from Alabama A&M with a degree in Soil Science in 1980 and is active in the university's agricultural initiatives. In 2014, Bill was one of only 15 farmers in the country named a “Champion of Change” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He serves as Chairman Emeritus of the National Black Growers Council where he advocates on behalf of Black farmers in the United States and abroad. 

Celeste Malvar-StewartSarah Moore, Associate Vice President of ESG, Victoria’s Secret & Co. 

Sarah Moore, MBA, leads ESG and Sustainability at Victoria’s Secret & Co., driving efforts to uphold product integrity, sustain critical resources in the apparel supply chain, and empower the people who make and use Victoria’s Secret products. With a tenured background in sustainability, business strategy, and community engagement across the food and apparel industries, Sarah is dedicated to driving sustainability as a catalyst for innovating, building trust, finding operational efficiencies, and creating meaningful impact for producers, global communities, and the environment. Prior to Victoria's Secret, Sarah was Senior Manager of Strategy at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, a rapidly growing certified B Corp. Here, she led sustainability and was instrumental in the company's retail expansion, managing real estate, design, and construction of retail stores across the US.  Previously, she was with global NGO Conservation International in Washington, DC and Hawai’i, leading projects to advance traceability in seafood supply chains, ocean health policy, and local supply chain development. She has also partnered with local non-profits in Ohio and Pennsylvania on waste reduction, transportation, and energy conservation. Throughout her career, Sarah has consistently delivered programs that drive business performance, foster community well-being and champion environmental responsibility. She is passionate about driving change through transparency, data, and partnerships.  Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science from The Ohio State University's cross-disciplinary sustainability program, EEDS (Environment, Economy, Development, Sustainability) with a focus in international development, and an MBA from Chatham University. 

Abbe TurnerAbbe Turner, Executive Director, Common Greens

Abbe Turner is an entrepreneur, writer, cheesemaker, and farmer dedicated to the craft of artisan food production and ethical land stewardship. As a leader of Ohio women in agriculture, Abbe creates social good in small businesses and nonprofit organizations as a business strategist and grant writing consultant. A professional fundraiser by trade, she has raised money for public broadcasting, arts organizations, academia, agriculture, and national parks. Currently, she works as a USDA Technical Assistant with the Niche Meat Processors Assistance Network (NMPAN) where she helps people fund their food and farming enterprises. She also proudly serves the community as Executive Director of Common Greens, a nonprofit that manages five Columbus-area farmers markets that help provide Ohioans access to fresh, local food. Abbe has received degrees in Viticulture and Enology from Kent State University and received her Master’s Degree in Arts Policy and Administration from The Ohio State University. She currently grows Shiitake mushrooms, figs, flax, and medicinal herbs on her farm in Knox County.

Lily TurnerLily Turner, Board of Directors Member, Three Rivers Fibershed

Lily Turner (she/her) is a Fashion and Costume Designer, sustainable fashion activist, and arts advocate currently living in Minneapolis, MN. Her design work is influenced by her childhood-- connecting with soil and learning to tell stories on her family farm in Northeast Ohio shaped how she approaches art, design, and materials as a whole. She has worked with Rust Belt Fibershed (Cleveland) and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Three Rivers Fibershed (Minneapolis). Lily completed a thesis research project at Macalester College titled "From Field to Fashion: A Journey in Sustainable Design and Regional Understanding" which allowed her to deep dive into the fiber story of the Upper Midwest and create a circular, soil to soil based collection, showcased at Minnesota Fashion Week in April 2024. She completed her Bachelor's degree at Macalester College in Fashion and Costume Design and also completed a year-long program studying Fashion Design at the Paris College of Art. More information about her work can be found at https://www.lilyturner.com/. 

 

Additional Information 

We strive to host events that are inclusive and accessible to everyone. If you have a disability and require accommodations to fully participate in this activity, please reach out to Hallie Stelzle, EPN Program Assistant (stelzle.2@osu.edu). Requests made five business days in advance will generally allow us to provide seamless access. However, we will make every effort to meet requests made after this time frame. You will be contacted by someone from our staff to discuss your specific needs. 

Masks are optional for all event attendees at this event, in accordance with Ohio State’s Safe and Healthy Protocols as of this date. In-person attendees will be expected to follow Ohio State protocols regarding the prevention of COVID-19 transmission. More health and safety information available on this Personal Safety Practices page. 

Topic Areas: 
Energy, Materials, and Sustainability