Posted March 11, 2015

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – Sarah Bellos, founder and president of Stony Creek Colors, is the recipient of the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists’ (AATCC’s) Young Entrepreneur Award.

Bellos is being recognized for producing regionally sourced natural dye colorants and pigments for industrial use. By blending education and experience, she has developed "a complete agricultural supply chain to deliver reliable and safe bio-based dyes to the textile industry and to help fashion brands reduce hazardous chemical use."

After studying sustainable agriculture at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) at North Carolina State University in 2001, Bellos worked as a farm production manager at Dilmun Hill Organic Farm in 2002 while attending Cornell University. In 2005, Bellos began ASK Apparel, where she monitored the manufacturing of naturally-dyed apparel and accessories for ASK Apparel brand (in-house) and external dye clients.

From 2007 through 2011, Bellos became a part-time volunteer farmer and coordinator of Nashville Urban Harvest, where she was the lead coordinator of a one-acre urban vegetable farm. In 2009, she co-founded Artisan Natural Dyeworks, where she operated and managed a garment dyehouse, dyeing custom piece goods for fashion designers and manufacturers. Her dyework and products have been showcased and sold at Whole Foods lifestyle sections, London Fashion Week, Cooper Hewitt Museum, Barney’s, Smithsonian Folk Life Festival and Lake Eden Arts Festival.