Summer Rayne Oakes is neither a typical entrepreneur nor a typical fashion model, which is why her New York City apartment is anything but boring.
The author, founder of two companies, and model for brands like Aveeno lives in a loft in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood and has created a space that she says reflects her lifestyle: sustainable, eco-friendly and rooted — so to speak — in the surrounding community.
Oakes' home is currently filled with 500 plants, including a vertical garden, banana and sweet potato plants, and a kitchen herb garden. Oakes has essentially created a living jungle inside a third-floor walk-up, which she says stems from her childhood habit of spending every spare moment outdoors — which led to a degree in environmental science and entomology from Cornell University.
See inside Oakes' one-of-a-kind, plant-filled home.
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Oakes moved into her Williamsburg apartment 11 years ago. She didn't know much about the neighborhood, but knew she wanted the place to be somewhat furnished and accepting of her pets (she raises exotic insects). At the time, Oakes was modeling and expanding her first company, SRO, which started off as an environmental communications and market research organization.
Having already worked in the modeling industry since college — she used to pack all her classes into three days then commute to New York on the weekends — Oakes wrote a book that tied together two of her personal and professional passions: fashion and the environment.
She launched her second company, Source4Style, in 2010. Now known as Le Souk, the company is an online fabric marketplace that connects designers to sustainable suppliers. For 18 months, her apartment served as the headquarters for the company.
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