Orsola de Castro in conversation with Lucy Siegle Inside Design

Tuesday 18th June 2013 7 – 8pm

Issues of fashion, issues of how clothes are made, issues of how to make ecological decisions when buying clothes. Orsola de Castro and Lucy Siegle will be discussing the inhumane and environmentally devastating story behind the clothes we so casually buy and wear. The focus will cover urgent themes such as Rana Plaza in Bangladesh – one of the deadliest  catastrophes in the history of the garment industry, with the death toll  exceeding 500.

The discussion will also explore the success story of From Somewhere, started in 1997 by Orsola – a revolutionary label that was the first to address this issue of pre-consumer waste and earnt her the title of Upcycling Queen.

Orsola discovered the delights of pre-consumer waste when she visited Miles, one of Italy’s best known high-end knitwear manufacturers; she  immediately focused on the remnants and surplus as a source of material for her designs. This pre-consumer waste became gems for her to play with. From Somewhere collaborations include upcycled collections for Jigsaw, Robe di Kappa, Tesco and Speedo.

Orsola is a regular lecturer for many universities including the Chelsea  College of Art and Design, Nottingham Trent and Falmouth University as well as being a guest speaker at Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins.  Her awards include 2004 winner of Green Apple National Bronze Prize For  Commerce and Industry; 2008 winner of both Designer of the Year and  Innovation Re:use awards at the RE:Fashion Awards and 2010 winner of the Observer Ethical Awards, fashion and accessories category.

Lucy Siegle is an Observer Columnist, feature writer and a TV presenter, primarily on The One Show BBC1. She is co-founder with Livia Firth of The Green Carpet Challenge and has written extensively on sustainable reform of the fashion industry. She is author of To Die For: is fashion wearing out the world? (Fourth Estate) and visiting professor to University of the Arts London.

Further information:
www.reclaimtowear.com
www.britishfashioncouncil.co.uk