Eco-designer Joanna Notkin.

Wild and Woolly

Text: CHARLENE ROOKE
Photo: TANIA JANTHUR

Hear the descriptor “granola,” and you conjure visions of something lumpy, brown and – ugh – good for you. But Joanna Notkin is one of a vanguard of young designers making eco-friendly home furnishings look and feel hip. She describes her vibrant handmade pillows and blankets as “things that look contemporary and will really last.” After a long and full life, they can go in the composter, where they’ll biodegrade after a year.

What seems like a simple environmental design solution took years to develop. As a teenager, Notkin ran a thriving costume jewelry business, but her success was polluted by disillusionment with the toxic chemicals she used and “knowing that the stuff would end up in a landfill some day.”

While studying textiles at the Rhode Island School of Design, the native Montrealer honed a philosophy she calls “100 percent design” (the name “LoooLo” is a visual pun on “100%”), which considers the impact on the environment of every step of the development, design and production process.

“At first, I wanted to work with cotton and wool because they’re ‘natural.’ But as I began to research wool production, I realized it’s the opposite of natural: Sheep get dipped in pesticide, the wool is bleached and chemicals are used to process it,” says Notkin, who eventually sourced her woollen yarns from a unique mill in Switzerland that is a model of environmental sustainability.

Notkin’s clientele has transcended the crunchy-granola set to include “people interested in design and innovation, who happen to like the fact that it’s eco-friendly.” Who knew that “think global, act local” could be so warm and fuzzy?

To watch for in 2005:

_ LoooLo’s new fashion scarves.

_ The company’s first product line of home furnishings to be manufactured in Canada.