California Apparel News

When competitive snowboarder Amy Purdy suddenly lost both of her legs to bacterial meningitis in 1999, her plans to live as a traveling snowboarder and massage therapist took a sudden detour. Now, the 31-year-old Purdy has plenty of occasions to travel as an official quot;advocatequot; for Element Eden clothing and as the inspiration behind Live, Learn, Grow, the line's new Spring 2012 capsule collection.

Element Eden is the women’s eco-friendly clothing line launched by Irvine,Calif.–based skate brand Element, a subsidiary of global surf company Billabong

The new capsule collection grew out of Purdy's desire to inspire others with physical disabilities to lead a healthy, active lifestyle.

quot;The clothing line is really transitional; you can wear it throughout the day. It's not just an active line. It's for someone like myself, who's involved in a lot of different things throughout the day and who wants to be active and healthy and stylish at the same time,quot; Purdy said. quot;I can wake up in the morning, and I can wear these cute leggings and a cute tank and go for a bike ride, and then I can throw on a shirt and a different pair of shoes and go to lunch with friends or to a meeting. And then at night, if I had to go to a dinner meeting or go jump on a plane, I could throw on a pair of jeans with it, so the entire line can take you throughout the entire day no matter what activity you're doing.quot;

Purdy's two prosthetic legs haven't slowed her down. In addition to assisting with the Live, Learn, Grow collection and snowboarding competitively for the World Cup circuit, Purdy volunteers at a military hospital, working with wounded vets, and launched her own nonprofit, Adaptive Action Sports.

The San Diego–based nonprofit organizes camps and clinics to help people with disabilities become involved with action sports and runs adaptive snowboard and skateboard competitions at the X Games. It was through an adaptive skateboard tour that Purdy became involved with Element Eden and became an Element Eden Advocate in 2008.

quot;We represent the clothing brand and basically living a life that's your own and unique and not necessarily following what everybody else is doing,quot; she said. quot;It's made up of female artists, photographers, musicians and philanthropists like myself.quot;

More than two years ago, Purdy began talks to develop her own line with the company, specifically to develop a collection that inspires girls to quot;embrace their uniqueness and be active and be aware and give back.quot;

The collection fits with the rest of the Element Eden Spring 2012 line so that customers can mix and match, Element Eden marketing coordinator Alexandra Swanson said.

quot;We see this fashion line as being really ahead of our time,quot; she said. quot;It's very fashion forward with a lot of unique cuts and fabrics we've brought into it and different necklines and hemlines that differentiate it from other outdoor brands.quot;

The collection was launched shortly before it showed at the August run of the Outdoor Retailer trade show.

Some of the popular items within the collection include the quot;Teaganquot; knit, a deep cowl-neck pullover made out of T-shirt fabric that wholesales for $25; the quot;Harlowquot; knit, a hooded wrap with a varying hemline that wholesales for $26.50; and the quot;Clarityquot; pant, a fashion-forward sweatpant that can be worn with heels that wholesales for $21.50.

quot;It's more than a clothing line—it's representing and inspiring girls to live their lives and learn and grow as much as they can,quot; Purdy said.