Biography

Rooted Botanics is the synergy of ethnobotany, traditional craft, & art. A business that not onlysells clothing, but tells a story about the historic culture of natural dyes and the plants that are all around us. Rooted started with a yearning to create a lifestyle that could support a long term dream. It started with the idea of bringing new life to vintage clothing through plant dyes, but continues to evolve into so much more. Having so much passion for a craft that is rooted in so much history and culture has driven the founder, Allie, to step into her role as not only an artist, but as a teacher as well. Through continuous learning, observation, and experimentation, her art has transformed into many mediums such as eco-printing, paint making from plants, dyeing with native plants, mushroom dyeing, and so much more! Allie has been studying and working with Natural Dyes for the past 7 years. Her love for this indigenous and sustainable craft started in her senior year of college, where she was working on her thesis in her fashion design program. Horrified by the environmental realities of the fashion industry, she was having conflicting thoughts about the field she was about to embark into. She decided to spend her senior year studying alternative and sustainable ways to design and create clothing and in the process, came across natural dyeing. She spent months experimenting in her home kitchen with earth materials and dyeing the clothing she was sewing for the final collection. She was reading books about the practice, where it came from, and all the different methods, and fell so completely in love with it. In the early stages of the business it was all about learning the methods, where the materials are indigenious to, who was using them, how old these traditions were. It was and still is the most important part of the business; educating people about the history of this craft & honoring the people who practiced before us. During the learning phase in the early months of the business, Allie decided she wanted to further her education and learn from a mentor. She found a woman named Olga Reiche, who resides down in Antigua, Guatemala, who has been teaching Natural Dyes for the past thirty years and let Allie come live with her and apprentice her for a month. In that magical month, Allie got to learn how to use indigo and extract color from native plants. They would go to the weekly market and get a bunch of local herbs and plants to dye skeins of wool with. Allie filled her journal with notes and swatches and learned from this woman who has dedicated her life to natural dyes, just as Allie does now. She learned new and old methods every single day of that month, and came home feeling so inspired and ready to grow her practice and the business. After having this experience, she knew that it is such a sacred privilege to be able to work with these recipes that have been passed on for generations. Allie had and still has this inner feeling inside her that the plants are calling and they need her to spread their knowledge so that this tradition doesn’t die. She has dedicated her life to the plants of this earth that give color, and has vowed to keep learning, keep experimenting, keep sharing the stories and the heart center of this craft.