May Salem, designer for Native Sol, has created a unique and fashionable line of clothing and accessories while remaining completely eco-friendly. Environmentally-conscious clothes? We like! See her line go down our runway at the next Long Beach RAW showcase on Thursday, February 25th! 

How did you first get started? 
I started designing when I was a little girl, influenced by my mom and uncle who were both professional and exceptional tailors/designers. I was a clothing a designer first; later, I started making accessories to go with my clothing designs. 

From where do you draw inspiration for your work?
I get inspiration from paintings, graffiti, cultural textiles, social issues, street culture, people, ancient civilizations, and most of all, Nature.

For those who aren't familiar with your apparel, how would you describe your craft? 
I consider myself an eco-friendly designer because I keep the Earth and environmental waste in mind when I create my designs. This means my designs are made of recycled materials, remnant fabrics, organic cotton, hemp, and other natural materials. I use textiles and different fabric prints as a base for my designs and from there I shape and manipulate them to form earrings, necklaces, wallets. My designs are usually out of the box, bold,bright, colorful, and will stand out in a crowd.  

What do you love most about what you do? 
I love being creative and having different ideas. That's the fun part to me, and that's why I'm still doing it. I also like the fact that I can show people that we can wear beautiful things that are made consciously without being so wasteful. 

Why showcase at RAW?
I initially got interested in RAW because of it's environmental mission of not printing papers and their promotion of energy efficient alternatives. I also like how it is very community-oriented and I feel like it will be a great place to showcase my work.  

Where can interested folks purchase your accessories? 
My accessories are available on www.nativesol.etsy.com and coming soon on www.nativesol.org