Welcome Aboard!

We've known Taylor Ahearn since she was just a little girl. Back then we had no idea that one day she would work at our Edgartown store and become a vineyard vines® supermodel. We guess all of that drive had a little something to do with some good island living, good friends and some great upbringing from her folks. One thing's for sure, Taylor is no couch potato. A senior at Wellesley High School just outside of Boston, she's as busy as you'd expect a teenager on the brink of graduation to be...with one exception. While most students her age are focusing on making the grade, Taylor is more concerned with making a difference.

Last year, inspired by Mountains Beyond Mountains, a book she stumbled upon by Tracy Kidder that explored the work of Dr. Paul Farmer and his attempts to provide preferential health care to the poor through his organization, Partners in Health, she decided to put on her own fashion show to raise money for the cause. After nearly a year of planning, the event rivaled some of the displays seen on the grandest New York catwalks (so we've heard…we don't do runways), making it one of the most elaborate student productions in school history. All this hard work might have temporarily taken her away from her studies, but that's OK; with all the life experience she's gained over the past few months, her extracurricular column is overflowing, which should come in handy when she starts looking at colleges this fall. And after that, if the timing's right, we'd love to have her join the VV team full-time. We could always use more people like her.