Cynthia Bogart: Living Greener with Designer Fabrics

At The Daily Basics, we are always interested in what is new and cutting edge, but when a “green†trend becomes a model for healthy and chic living, that totally tickles our fancy.

Oliveira Textiles says, “Why not have it all?†Everything they do is natural, including their creative methodology. Twin sisters Dawn and Deb Oliveira founded the Bristol, Rhode Island–based company after enjoying separate careers in the art field. Dawn had her own fabric design firm in New York with clients such as Ralph Lauren, Dana Buchman, Stark Fabric and Emanuel Ungaro. Deb was a graphic designer and Russian translator. Motivated by the loss of several family members to cancer, the girls decided to take their skills and build a business that would make the world a healthier place to live.

The homegrown New England twins researched and found local mills to hand-screen their fabrics made of sustainable and organic fibers. The dyes are water-based, free of heavy metals and approved by the Organic Trade Association’s “Fiber Standards.†This makes it easy for them to work with the mill on a face-to-face basis, ensuring quality control over the production of their products.

The Fabrics: hemp, sometimes woven with flax or natural cotton.

The Printing: silkscreen with water-based organic pigment dyes. No chemical finish, no flame retardants. Printed here in New England, in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

–Cynthia Bogart
Cynthia Bogart is the editor of The Daily Basics, an online site dedicated to home, life and YOU style. She is an eighteen-year veteran regional editor for Traditional Home and Better Homes & Gardens. Cynthia lives on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island with her husband, three children and two dogs.