I created the sustainable clothing brand for kids I couldn’t find when I was pregnant. We make clothes from old fishing nets and deadstock fabric.

I was shopping for children’s clothes while I was pregnant with my first child when I noticed the lack of sustainable clothing brands that existed for children. It was 2018 and numerous brands were starting to use organic cotton, a good start towards sustainability , but not the complete answer to it. There was a gap in the market for a sustainable kids’ clothing line, that not only put the environment first but also used materials that were destined for landfill.

Mon Coeur — French for my heart — was created to address this need and to give a second life to materials that were discarded. My childhood began in the South of France in a small town called Mougins located between the mountain and the Mediterranean Sea. I always appreciated the sounds and sights of nature; it was inspiring and the perfect contrast to the hours I spent in a studio practicing ballet until I moved back to New York City at the age of 18.

From studying in Washington DC to moving between Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong, and back to New York, I was furthering my education in business and hospitality, and I hadn’t realized how much of the world I had seen. I saw first-hand the beauties that nature has to offer of untouched lands and the disastrous impact that global warming was having on crowded cities. When it came to launching Mon Coeur, I pulled inspiration and knowledge from my experiences and made it my mission to create a holistic, traceable source of children’s fashion for the modern, environmentally friendly, and stylish child.

When I launched the brand I approached it similar to my education. I spent three years researching the technology and how to turn existing materials from landfills into clothing. Through my research, I discovered that we could transform plastic bottles into polyester used in outerwear and raincoats — by melting PET bottles that create filaments — or use cotton scraps destined to landfill and use them in our yarn to avoid the usage and creation of any virgin fabrics.

I was fascinated to discover every day that I could use anything already being made and give it a second life. We also want to venture into new territories and push to find new sustainable materials that we can make clothing from. For the first time ever, we released swimsuits made from recycled fishing nets.

While designing our spring and summer collection, I watched this documentary on sea animals being trapped by fishing nets at the bottom of the oceans. Afterward, I looked into how we can find a way to get those finishing nets out of the ocean and give them a purpose. The future of sustainability and our planet is in the hands of younger generations and they are making more conscious choices when it comes to their buying decisions.

It’s important that beyond sustainable practices we continue to educate on why it’s important to preserve mother earth but also to provide a sense of community — we are in this together. Since launching Mon Coeur, I have learned so much, my family has grown with the birth of my daughter and most importantly I have realized parents want better options for themselves and their kids, and that fills my heart. .