From there, she was hooked on weaving.
Foxs early plans for her craft were a bit misguided.
I wasconvincedthat I could support myself this way.
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Fox
After two years at Cal Poly, Fox paused her studies to resume her job working with insects.
While at Cal Poly, she taught a hand spinning course to scrape together extra money.
From there, Fox swore off dyes in her textile work.
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Fox
Foxs signature colored cotton allows for significantly less dye to be used.
(This natural method is called conventional breeding.)
In his greenhouse, she discovered brown cottonwhich has innate disease- and pest-resistant properties.
Video: Courtesy of Sally Fox
I asked him, Why are we trying to get rid of the colors?
Foxs boss told her there was no market for colored cotton.
I said,Why dont we make a market for colored cotton?
Photo: Courtesy of Sally Fox
But there was a problem.
The fiber was awful.
It was very rough, and it was short, and extraordinarily difficult to spin, she says.
She began cross-pollinating by hand, breeding just a few strains her first year, 1982.
Fox eventually moved onto other jobs, but her cotton plants always came with her.
She graduated from pots to a quarter-acre, to acres upon acres of land.
She was breeding cotton that ranged from camel to seafoam green.
We were at 5,000 certified organic acres and 3,000 transitional certified transitional organic acreage in Arizona, she says.
The cottons pest-resistant qualities were already paying off.
But then, the American textile industry collapsed.
With the textile industry in a free fall, Foxs company was purchased by an angel investor.
But all of her clients had folded.
It was about eight years of nothingness, she says.
Fox doesnt necessarily see her cotton changing the world of high fashion.
She likens couture to a roseher cotton is the soil that allows the flower to bloom.
She also credits her humble beginnings.
