Orsola de Castro

Orsola de Castro began up-cycling in 1997 with her original label, From Somewhere, the first to take luxury pre-consumer textile waste and re-make it into new collections. From Somewhere’s collaborations include Robe Di Kappa, Jigsaw, Speedo and Tesco (for which they won Best Fashion Accessory at the 2010 Observer Ethical Awards). In 2006, Orsola and her partner launched Esthetica at London Fashion Week under the British Fashion Council, to showcase labels designing sustainably. Recently, Orsola created Reclaim To Wear, resulting in collaborations with retailers such as Topshop as well as projects with Central Saint Martins and Hong Kong Design Institute. Orsola is associate lecturer for UAL as well as a guest speaker at many international symposiums (including Suzy Menkes’s IHT in 2010 and TEDx at the London Business School in 2013).