GREEN QUEEN I am called the Eco-Model but that's just a label and it's limiting. I am not a model-turned-activist. I have a degree in entomology and environmental science. In 2000, in the middle of my studies, I started cause-related modelling and design/development projects to push sustainability issues through fashion and media. I thought that if I could work in an industry which was the furthest away from the environment I would be able to reach the greatest number of people.
The fashion industry touches our lives in so many ways: from what we wear and how we take care of our clothes, to the manufacturing industry, which is huge. More than 26 million people are involved just on the manufacturing side alone.
I'm involved in policy-making with non-profit-making organisations and I work on sustainable-development programmes all over the world. So, I'm definitely not just a model who jumped on the green bandwagon.
HERE COMES THE RAYNE My mum had this desire to have her kids on the first day of summer and she hoped I was going to be an artist when I grew up. Also, it was raining the day I was born. I did think I might study art at one stage but I was innately curious about the outdoors and the environment. I claimed my brother's microscope as my own and would look at mould from the fridge and I built a waterfall in my bedroom so that I could raise insects. I grew up in a very beautiful area of northeastern Pennsylvania [in the United States], surrounded by forests, fields and farms. It was always a source of inspiration for me. In high school I did voluntary work, at college, I worked for my local conservation association. I studied waste management, organic contaminants and environmental health; mine reclamation; rainforest regeneration; invasive species; landscape impact analysis; sustainable development; aquatic entomology and stream water quality. I love the scientific process.
STRONG HEAD, BIG HIPS I've been financially independent since I was 15 years old. When my parents split up, my mother made the decision to move to another state to get a better job. I refused to go with her because I was so focused on going to Cornell University and I had built an incredible network in my community. I was always aware that I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Seriously, the world doesn't really say no unless you let it.
In 2005, when I approached my first modelling agency I told them what I wanted and I was talking about the environment with passion and vigour: I poured my heart out to them. They said, 'That's all very well but we have to tell you that 80 per cent of the jobs will not be available to you because your hips are two inches too big.' I was incensed. I told them that, first of all, I don't want those jobs, and second, 'If you think for one moment that two inches on my hips is going to put me off doing what I want to do, you are sadly mistaken.' They were scared of me. But I thought it was so trivial.