Orsola de Castro
Co founder of Fashion Revolution and upcycling pioneer
Orsola de Castro is a designer, author and campaigner who co founded the global movement Fashion Revolution with Carry Somers in 2013 and served as its creative director until 2022. An early pioneer of upcycling through her label From Somewhere, she is one of the most prominent voices for a fairer, less wasteful fashion industry.
| Known for | Co founding Fashion Revolution (2013) |
|---|---|
| Creative director | Fashion Revolution, until 2022 |
| Label | From Somewhere (founded 1997) |
| Book | Loved Clothes Last (2021) |
| Born | 1966, Rome |
Who is Orsola de Castro?
Orsola de Castro is a Rome born designer and activist who has worked on fashion's waste problem since the 1990s. She is best known as the co founder of Fashion Revolution, the movement that popularised the question Who made my clothes? after the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2013.
Career
In 1997 she founded From Somewhere, a label that turned pre consumer textile waste into new collections. The brand later collaborated with major companies including Tesco, Speedo and Topshop, showing that upcycling could work at commercial scale.
She then helped build platforms for ethical design within the mainstream industry:
- Estethica (2006 to 2014), co founded with Filippo Ricci as an ethical fashion showcase at London Fashion Week for the British Fashion Council
- Reclaim To Wear (2011 to 2014), which created upcycled capsule collections, including one for Topshop using surplus factory fabrics
- Fashion Revolution (from 2013), co founded with Carry Somers, where she was creative director until 2022
In 2021 she published Loved Clothes Last with Penguin Life, a guide that combines her experience of upcycling with practical advice on caring for and repairing clothes. She also mentors emerging designers through the British Fashion Council and Central Saint Martins.
Influence on the fashion business
Fashion Revolution grew into a global network with official country offices in 23 countries and activist teams in more than 80. Its annual Fashion Revolution Week, held around the 24 April anniversary of Rana Plaza, encouraged consumers to ask brands about their suppliers, and its Fashion Transparency Index assessed how much large brands publicly disclose about their supply chains and impacts. These initiatives helped make supply chain transparency a mainstream expectation for brands and retailers. In April 2026 Fashion Revolution announced the closure of its UK community interest company, citing a challenging funding environment, as the movement moves to a more federated, locally led structure.
Why it matters
De Castro was among the first designers to treat textile waste as a resource rather than a by product. Through Estethica she brought ethical design onto an official fashion week stage, and through Fashion Revolution she helped shift public conversation from trends to the people and processes behind clothing. Many current brand commitments on transparency, repair and circularity echo arguments she has made for more than two decades.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Orsola de Castro?
Orsola de Castro is a designer and campaigner who co founded Fashion Revolution with Carry Somers in 2013. She founded the upcycling label From Somewhere in 1997 and wrote the book Loved Clothes Last.
What is Fashion Revolution?
Fashion Revolution is a global movement founded after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 to campaign for a clean, fair and transparent fashion industry. It is known for the question Who made my clothes?, Fashion Revolution Week and the Fashion Transparency Index.