ColumnNatalie Chanin’s bi-weekly column, Material Witness, offers a seasoned designer’s perspective on the fashion industry, textile history and what happens when love for community trumps all.

I planted my fall garden last weekend – perhaps about a month late but nevertheless, it is in the ground. My daughter has finally reached the age where she is a willing participant most of the time. In fact, she planted about half a row of garlic before scurrying off to uncover the peas I had just planted and to bury the little ceramic garden gnome that keeps watch on the birds who are eating our carefully planted seeds. That little antique gnome, a gift I received 20+ years ago while living in Vienna, has traveled the world with me, gone to every new home, and overseen each new incarnation of my life. He has always reminded me that a garden was waiting in my future.

The morning I decided to plant, I woke up in my own bed after returning home the day before from a trip that included three stops in two and a half weeks. I arrived home with a head cold and the desire to lie still for another two weeks. But, my daughter and I got up that morning and raked and hoed and planted. It felt good. I sighed, and relaxed and smiled as we settled into an afternoon of working and playing side-by-side.

I admit that I am not the best gardener in the world. This fall garden should have been planted a month ago; my rows are a bit wobbly as they move down the length of my backyard plot. I am certain that when the lettuce and spinach begin to sprout, there will be sections of the rows where too many seeds were strewn too closely together, and other sections where nothing will come up.
This is much like the story of my life and business.

A business owner recently said to me, “You are so successful, you wouldn’t know about the difficulties we have had in trying to build our business.” I couldn’t help but laugh. There are beautiful aspects to what we do at Alabama Chanin every day but there are also carefully planted rows that don’t come up, sales that don’t happen, frustrations and disappointments.

I recently came across an essay I had written in 2006 for Leslie Hoffman at Earth Pledge titled, “What Does Planting Tomatoes Have to Do With Fashion?”  It seems at first blush that the two would have little to do with one another. The gist of the essay was how coming home and re-learning how to plant a garden had connected me to my community, my business, the greater art of sustaining life and, consequently, to the fashion industry at large. As I look back over the essay, it feels like such a long time since I wrote those words. Our first book had not yet hit the shelves. My separation from my former company was still new and the wounds were fresh. When I re-read that essay, I could sense my fear, my hopes and my determination between the lines.

What that essay also reminded me was that while my rows today might still be wobbly, the birds-eye view of the garden is straight as an arrow. My path has been crooked, but the mission that I set for myself so many years ago is alive and growing.
So, what I really wanted to communicate to the business owner that day was not laughter – as if it were a silly question. I meant that laughter to mean: I am in the same garden! As a business, we experience the same ups-and-downs, the same excitements and the same disappointments, and in spite of it all, we are still here and we are still gardening.

Today, as I sit and look at my wobbly rows, my garden feels like my business. I realize that the wobbly row is a perfect analogy for my own process. We plant rows that flourish; we plant rows that putter along. We water, we nurture, we pick, we grow. But the real beauty of it all is not in the harvesting but this moment of sitting in the sun waiting for the first sprouts to poke through the earth.

The point is to watch the little plants grow and to savor the laughter that will come when I finally discover the buried garden gnome that my daughter has left for me as a present.

Natalie Chanin is owner and designer of the American couture line Alabama Chanin and author of three books including Alabama Stitch Book  (2008), Alabama Studio Style (2010) and the upcoming Alabama Studio Sewing + Design which comes out spring 2012. Look for her bi-weekly column, Material Witness here and follow her on Facebook and her own blog at Alabama Chanin.

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“An unremarkable house can become a beautiful, sustainable shelter,” says Leslie Hoffman, President and Executive Director of  Earth Pledge.

She’s proving it with her own island development. The project is described on Hoffman’s Gimme Shelter blog as “a showcase for environmentally responsible building practices, sustainable products and brands and creative talents.“

What else makes this house sustainable? “Community,” she says.

I caught up with Hoffman recently and asked her a few questions about the project. Here’s what she had to say:

How did you find the Shelter Island property?

I have had the place for close to 10 years. It has served me well, I have become part of the community, I established my garden and grew it over the years, and have shared the house with friends. During this time I have thought a lot about how it could be improved, without making it substantially bigger, reusing as much of the old building as possible, and addressing issues, such as the fragile local aquifer, that are important in the community.

If sustainably designed, then why demolish the building and start anew?

The original structure was 2×4 framing on an uninsulated slab. The decision to re-frame the main section of the house addressed the need for insulation under the floor and also increased increased insulation in the walls and roof. The old section that remains is principally the garage and two guest bedrooms.

Will you have monitoring systems for people to see how your home is doing?

I am not installing monitoring equipment per se, but will certainly be monitoring fuel and electricity usage. My work on green roofs at Earth Pledge has included building three monitoring stations, so the results can now be applied without replicating the scientific work, which is costly.

What are some parts of the project you’re really excited about and why? Are you using your house as a testing ground for anything?

Each project that I have done has been a learning experience, so I know that Gimme Shelter will “teach” me – and hopefully others. I am super excited about the indoor/outdoor integration of this project. In summer, when most people want to come and visit, the house can be opened up to literally become part of the outdoor living spaces, and vice versa. The new product developments – including advanced green features such as water and energy saving – are amazing. I am also looking forward to having solar thermal panels to heat my hot water and radiant heating (I have had PV generating 5 kW of electricity for almost 7 years) and I am also really keen to explore cooking with an induction stove.

Tell me why you picked Steve Hoffman as the architect?

Steve, who is no relation to me, is married to a friend. They visited me on Shelter Island a number of times, and he became interested in the project. I had been grappling with some issues about the project, most notably the roof lines. Steve came up with the concept of the shape of the house, and reorganized some of the interior space use. When I saw the shape, it screamed “water catchment device” to me. This became central as we developed the garden integration and considered the impact of storm water runoff on a coastal site.

Talk about home being one of the basic necessities for living. How is your home that and more?

For me – beyond providing shelter – this place represents an opportunity to share what I know and how I live – with my friends, my community and the millions of Americans who live in typical mid 20th century housing who might want to upgrade their homes while integrating new (and more sustainable) principles into their lifestyles. As an example, I believe that more gardeners in the world will make the world a better place. When you experience the pleasures of the process and product of living with a garden, you are more likely to actually do it. This house and its renovation are providing me with a vehicle for sharing with what is hopefully a broad reach.

Top image: Computer generated image of Hoffman’s Gimme Shelter Project

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