For the eco-textile connoisseur, have I got a treat for you. Yes, you’ve explored the soft and wonderful worlds of organic cotton, hemp and bamboo, but have you ever worn nettles? I know, I was surprised, too, when I came across Savage Designs. I was attracted by the swingy, well-tailored cuts, high quality fabrics and funky designs. Then I noticed a sign, some photos, something about the fibers. I had to know more.

What I learned was this: Savage Designs makes their clothes out of sustainably wild crafted Himalayan nettles (yes, the stinging kind), processed naturally by hand into a soft and durable fabric. They also use bamboo, organic cotton and Tencel from eucalyptus trees. The clothing is eco-luxurious and casually edgy; designers Sunny and Stardust incorporate conscious business practices and eco-integrity into every step of the process. If you’ve ever wanted to wear the finest fibers the Earth can provide, these are the clothes for you.

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My island dream house is clean and white, sprinkled with sea glass and hurricane lamps, and images like the frond, coral and urchin found in these new Wabisabi Eco-Art Coastal Pillows. They’re clean and modern to perfection yet the images are derived from an appreciation of imperfection found in nature, another angle to the symmetry that balances so much of Japanese design.

Wabi (cycles of erosion) Sabi (recurrence) is a very green concept, celebrating life cycles. The handprinted throw pillows, $68 at Cottage and Bungalow, are made from bamboo, organic cotton, silky kapot fiber harvested from the rain forest and eco-fiber born of recycled plastic bottles. Yes, it would be counter-intuitive to marry the sea turtle and koi with factory-made polyester.

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