Podcasts about orsola de castro

Welcome to Series 3! This Episode is a treat! It features Orsola de Castro, is one of the warmest, most generous, most knowledgable people working in sustainable fashion today. You may know her as the cofounder, with Carry Somers, of Fashion Revolution. But did you also know that she is the queen upcycling? In the that 1990s, after crocheting around the holes in a much-loved old jumper that she couldn’t part with (although it was literally falling apart), she founded the fashion label From Somewhere. Her designs used only discarded, unloved, unwanted materials and turned them into the opposite: treasured, loved, wanted, and highly covetable. From Somewhere was stocked in stores like Browns in London, and Lane Crawford in Hong Kong, Orsola and her man Fillipo, who was also her business partner, did collaborations with the likes of Topshop, Jigsaw and Tesco. Later, they ran Esthetica, London Fashion Week’s hub for sustainable for fashion. These days, Orsola teaches at Central St. Martins inspiring the next generation. She’s an in-demand international speaker on ethical fashion, and is the Creative Director of Fashion Revolution. She is passionate about making, mending and loving clothes, and of course about upcycling, but also about treating workers with dignity, and about fashion justice. In this conversation, we talk about it all - from seeing the world in colours, through inspiring designers, from how to reconnect with your clothes to what sort of fashion future we want to create for ourselves. Enjoy! Don't forget to subscribe to this podcast in iTunes, and join the conversation on social media. You can find Clare on Instagram and Twitter. Follow Orsola here and here. And last, but most certainly not least, join the Fashion Revolution movement in your country. Thank you for listening.

Today we are going to have a look at fast fashion, what it is and why is it important for us to look into sustainable fashion options. Fast fashion is a term that is used in the fashion industry to described inexpensive designs, that move quickly to keep up with the latest fashion trends. It is not uncommon for some of these brands to release new products weekly to keep up with the trends instead of introducing new lines on a seasonal basis. Episode Highlights[01:11] Fast fashion became more popular in the 90’s. To produce more clothing at a faster pace and lower rate, these manufacturers will try to keep the production cost as low as possible. Some of the ways they can do this are by using low-quality materials that will only last a few washes and pay workers low wages. [01:34] Often these workers, working conditions is not socially sustainable, and a lot of these working environments are unsafe to work in. One of the most deadly garment factory incidents happened in 2013 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, when the Rana Plaza collapsed. 1,138 garment workers died and 2,500 more were injured during the collapse of the eight-storey building. [02:05] It has been more than five years since the collapse of Rana Plaza, however, Bangladesh is still known as one of the countries where their garment workers earn the lowest wages in the world, with a minimum wage of less than $100 per month. [02:23] In the last few years, more campaigns were started to encourage people to ask questions and to know what they are wearing and if it is sustainable economically, environmentally and socially. [02:38] Carry Somers and Orsola De Castro found Fashion Revolution (https://www.fashionrevolution.org/) , a non-profit organisation committed to enacting genuine change in the fashion industry. It all started with a hashtag #WhoMadeMyClothes? [03:11] A few tips that I use to make my wardrobe more sustainable. [03:16] Buy Second-hand. [03:38] Invest in quality ethical clothing when you purchase new. [04:25] Repair rather than replace. [04:47] Purchase only what you need. [05:05] If you look at the wardrobe of the founder of the zero waste lifestyle movement, Bea Johnson, you would only find 15 items. From these 15 items, she can create 50 different looks. Her entire wardrobe fits in a carry-on and therefore everytime she travels she can pack her entire wardrobe and does not have to spend a lot of time thinking what she needs to pack when going on a trip. [05:36] I have recently implemented a policy in my wardrobe that anything that I have not worn in the last 12 months needs to go. It is either donated or sold to the thrift store and whenever I want to purchase a new item I need to replace one of the older items. [06:10] My final tip for today is to do what you can and feel comfortable to start with. Living a more sustainable life is a journey and not a race. Key Take Away“If you look at the wardrobe of the founder of the zero waste lifestyle movement, Bea Johnson, you would only find 15 items. From these 15 items, she can create 50 different looks.”  How often do we stand in front of our very cluttered wardrobe and think, wow I do not have anything that I would be able to wear today? Yes, we have a wardrobe full of clothing, maybe half of the wardrobe does not fit anymore or is only used during a specific season or are there because of sentimental reasons. By removing items that you no longer wear would clear up some space in the cupboard that would save you time every morning as there would be fewer clothes to go through when deciding what to wear. If Bea can create 50 outfits from only 15 items then I am sure we would be able to let go of many more items in our wardrobes that takes up a lot of space as well as our time.

Is fashion ready for a revolution? Orsola de Castro and the team behind Fashion Revolution think so. Founded in the aftermath of the Rana Plaza factory collapse, Fashion Revolution is a global campaign that seeks greater transparency in the fashion industry. With events in over 90 countries, Orsola shares with Kate why (and how) everyone should get involved.