SOMETIMES, you know, it's ok to let the heart rule.
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But you have to keep your head in the game, too.
Maybe, just maybe, it will lead to somewhere special as Vanessa Bell found when she left city living and its fancy lights for the NSW bush and the love of her life.
As Ms Bell, once a high fashion model working for some of the biggest brands in Europe, explains it's been a journey of discovery driven by passion for family, fashion and environmental care.
She says she was "incredibly fortunate" to once work for clients such as Giorgio Armani, COMME Des GARCONS and Christian Dior as a high fashion model.
Then she met Philip, a producer whose family had been on the land for yonks.
In time they married and are busily raising a family while running four properties with an aggregate holding greater than the size of Paris.
One of the properties carries a Merino flock of about 2000 head, producing fine fibre she hopes will be used in her own designs.
She, too, wants the world to realise the wonders of Australian Merino wool and create clothing and accessories from traceable, ethically processed yarn.
"My love of Merino wool stems from my days of being in high fashion," she said.
"There's a huge disconnect between city and country about actually understanding the fibre and the performance and what it can actually do.
"Nothing would make my heart sing more than being able to produce baby blankets for real that we've produced."
It is also her goal as a land custodian to take another step by becoming a carbon farmer. She's committed to protecting the biodiversity of flora and fauna on their land.
"If we teach children to choose wool over synthetic we can reduce our micro plastic pollution, protect our oceans and land while creating a sustainable future," she said.
"If they wear wool they will actually be making a conscious decision not to contribute to landfill.
"The beautiful part about wool and why I think it's the future of sustainable fashion is it performs and drapes well. The added bonus everyone will come to love wool."
And a mind to wear it.
My love of Merino wool stems from my days of being in high fashion.
- Vanessa Bell
Alan Welburn
Lover of sport, particularly horse racing and all things Olympic. Have spent my entire working life in journalism, mostly with News Corp on its major metro mastheads. Done plenty of things but the best by far is having a teenage son who calls me dad.
Lover of sport, particularly horse racing and all things Olympic. Have spent my entire working life in journalism, mostly with News Corp on its major metro mastheads. Done plenty of things but the best by far is having a teenage son who calls me dad.
