Today, the vibrant women and children’s clothing label Fresh Produce is ubiquitous with its casual resort looks, all decadently relaxed to give women that pulled-together-without-thinking-about-it look just perfect for summertime. You can find the company’s Capri pants, gauzy scarves, even the T-shirts (they’ve stuck to their roots) at Nordstrom stores nationwide, plus in namesake stores such as the one on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall. But as identifiable as the label has become, most Coloradans don’t realize the company has been based in Boulder for 18 years. The brand is more identified with Los Angeles, where the company was started in 1984, when Thom and Mary Ellen Vernon started printing cotton shirts for the Olympic crowds that summer. “People told us if we moved out to Colorado it would be the kiss of death for our company,” Mary Ellen says. “But really it was what helped us keep such a strong sense of style and identity all these years— we aren’t as influenced by the trends and whims.”