By Rita Cook

Often it takes a lot of love to create the kind of organic and sustainable fashion pieces to which customers are drawn. For Miami transplant Nasly Duarte, that is one of the essential ingredients in her company Seeds to Love, which she launched in 2009.

“It was really an accidental company," says Duarte, who currently lives in Fort Worth. "Not by a lack of effort, but rather that its humble beginnings were entirely unintentional.”

Seeds to Love, a small company that offers natural beads and unique one-of-a-kind pieces, was founded when Duarte was visiting her mother, who was making art and jewelry from natural materials. Duarte was inspired by the idea.

“There began a start of something spectacular,” she says. “Rapidly, my desire grew for these fascinating unique treasures,” which are now a part of Duarte’s merchandise. 

It was in March 2010 that the name of her company was conceived and soon she began making the jewelry for Seeds to Love out of her home.

She says that she is excited for the future of Seeds To Love, which is growing as fast as she can manage it while raising her "lovely and spirited children.”

                 

Duarte’s real hope is that customers will find items at her store that are not only pleasantly stylish, but also represent "Earth's gift to humans." She said that she was influenced by the movie Biutiful. In the movie, one of the main characters decided she would no longer purchase jewelry from overseas sweat shops. That made Duarte decide the same thing after researching the industry. 

Educating people on sustainable fashion has also become a part of her mission too. 

“Responsible stewardship of our planet and resources is a fundamental philosophy in the operation of Seeds To Love,” she explains. “This is why all materials are thoughtfully considered in the construction and packaging of Seeds To Love products. In particular, organic materials are used to make these unique pieces 100 percent sustainable." 

Duarte also uses various recycled materials in her work utilizing an organization in Colombia with a main focus of working with single mothers. The women within the organization process the seeds and natural materials and assemble the end design product.

The organization teaches entrepreneur skills to the Columbian women using Duarte’s business as a template to increase the women’s financial situation.
Seeds to Love's purpose is to give and build self-esteem and confidence in these women, she says

“Not only that, but women entrepreneurs contribute to improving the economy, competitiveness and better business performance.”

Duarte’s most popular items right now include Tagua beads and coffee bean beads, but she sells her handmade jewelry frequently as it is also quite popular.

“Right now I am making jewelry and looking for local interns to expand in making clothes, shoes and handbags using natural sustainable materials,” she explains, adding that she designs all of the products.

Continually inspired by her “three beautiful daughters,” Duarte says she loves the feeling she gets when helping other women. She will be launching a sustainable mobile fashion boutique this summer.

For questions about Duarte’s products or to purchase her items visit her through her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sustainablemobileboutique or email her at nduarte215@gmail.com.


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Rita Cook is an award winning journalist who writes or has written for the Dallas Morning News, Focus Daily News, Waxahachie Daily Light, Dreamscapes Travel Magazine, Porthole, Core Media, Fort Worth Star Telegram and many other publications in Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago.  With five books published, her latest release is “A Brief History of Fort Worth” published by History Press.  You can contact her at rcook13@earthlink.net