Leading sustainable fashion designer Orsola de Castro (pictured) has called on Scottish designers to use reclaimed and reused textiles in their apparel.
Speaking at an event organised by Zero Waste Scotland and the Scottish Textile and Leather Association, she also launched a new fund that will help Scottish fashion designers to create zero waste and closed-loop clothes.
The designer, who has created collections for Topshop and an Oscar dress for Colin Firth’s wife Livia using reclaimed fabrics, said: “The industry needs to take a positive approach to a changing world and sustainability will inevitably penetrate all aspects of fashion, textile design and production. We need to look at waste as a resource, and inspire young designers to its immense creative potential and help the industry to understand its viability, scalability and role in the future.”
Zero Waste Scotland chief executive Iain Gulland added: “It’s incredibly exciting to see Scotland leading the conversation on sustainability in textiles. We have a really diverse and engaged mix of textile producers and clothing designers here in Scotland, and the funding we have announced today will enable the industry to start testing out ways to make waste a thing of the past in textiles, and create a circular economy that sees fabric flow in a cycle of reuse and eliminate waste to landfill.”
The textile symposium was attended by delegates from across the clothing, fashion, textile manufacturing and design sectors.
