Because of her close ties to environmental causes, Oakes is known as “The ecomodel.” It seems to fit her well: She has put her name behind many cause-related programs, including a skin care company that built a forest in New York City to show its commitment to the environment and a line of sunglasses that plants a tree for every pair of frames sold.

She didn’t set out to be an eco-fashionista. Oakes, whose first and middle names were derived from being born, as she states, on a “rainy summer day,” was raised amid Pennsylvania farmlands near Scranton and developed a love of nature from an early age. By 13, she was the youngest member of an environmental advisory board in her hometown, and after high school, went off to Cornell University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in natural resources and entomology.

While at college, researching toxins in sewage sludge and identifying aquatic insects, the 5-foot-10-inch, willowy auburn beauty also began modeling, and conceived the idea that the fashion industry might be the right forum for her to take a leading role in expanding environmental awareness.

Runaway Success
Armed with brains, beauty and an affinity with the natural world, Oakes signed with her first modeling agency after graduating. Today, at age 27, she has built her own brand as a business consultant and spokeswoman, blogger, author, speaker, host and entrepreneur in the multibillion-dollar industry of environmentally friendly apparel and home products.

Oakes says that being in nature is what makes her come to life. “I carry that with me through all of my work in the fashion industry. It keeps me incredibly grounded and gives me an opportunity to work with companies and organizations that mirror my values or operate in the spirit of becoming better stewards,’’ she says.

Oakes is as appealing as the products she represents. She has put her eco-stamp of approval on Portico Home + Spa linens and body products, as well as Payless ShoeSource’s zoe&zac line of bath and body products, ballet flats, wedge espadrilles and handbags. Oakes also loans her name to Modo Eyewear’s Eco-collection and is a spokeswoman for Aveeno.

She sometimes blogs about her experiences at Summer Rayne.net, and in a recent post further explained how she chooses which Earth-friendly companies she’ll support. “An engaging partnership is a critical component for me to [be] a spokesperson,” she writes. “On countless occasions, I have had to turn down offers if the partnership didn’t seem suitable. But how exciting it is to find brands that are ready to step up to the challenge and have the spirit, resources and energy to make meaningful change happen from the inside out.”

Eco-Fashion Trends Oakes’ timing in applying her passions and skills to the green-and-clean marketplace is apt. Global retail sales of organic cotton apparel and home textile products reached an estimated $4.3 billion in 2009, up 35 percent over the year before, according to the latest research from Organic Exchange’s Organic Cotton Market Report, and the market is expected to continue to grow. Organic Exchange projected a 20 to 40 percent jump in both 2010 and 2011, which could result in a $6 billion market this year.

Oakes supports the trend through her Source4Style.com marketplace, connecting designers and decorators with sustainable fabric suppliers around the world. Other celebrities, models and designers, such as Bono, Jennifer Aniston, Rogan Gregory, Peter Ingwersen, Stella McCartney and Alicia Silverstone, have added their voices in raising awareness of the importance of socially conscious and environmentally friendly fashion.

But it doesn’t stop there, says Oakes. “It really comes down to a brand or product’s design aesthetic and distribution.”

Oakes has modeled for such industry giants as Levi Strauss & Co., Nicole Miller, Replay Jeans and others, but her activism and modeling have also allowed her to branch out into other industries. She says that her book, Style, Naturally: The Savvy Shopping Guide to Sustainable Fashion and Beauty, is aimed at “women that love style, but may not have [the terms] environment or green in their lexicon,” and serves as “an irreverent, witty guide for green virgins.”

“I don’t get involved with [a product] if it doesn’t have substance, if it doesn’t have sexiness, if it doesn’t have style and if it doesn’t have sustainability,” she stated in a recent presentation titled “Rainforest to Runways: One Young Woman’s Wild Journey in Fashion, Activism and Entrepreneurship.” “It’s got to have all four if I am going to help develop it.”

Kristin J. Bender is a freelance writer based in the San Francisco Bay area.