ON DUTY CITIZEN
SARA MOREL
1) What inspired you to get involved in the sustainability movement?
After almost a decade in fashion PR, I left my corporate job to reclaim my life.
My job gave me pleasure and pain, and enabled me to buy my first home in west London. I vowed to renovate it with as many old and reclaimed things as possible, and as I educated myself about responsible sourcing it resulted in a total life change.
Dressing my home with ethical and sustainable materials gave me daily inspiration to dress myself differently, so here I am, woman reclaimed.
2) What specifically is your involvement in the sustainable/ethical world?
With Reclaimed Woman I create collaborations that represent my ethos and everything I love, for example through events that bring together vintage, ethical and upcycled fashion with charities, such as Smart Works to raise money and represent their unique fashion reuse—both supporting women and reducing landfill. I’ve just been appointed CEO of Salvo, the marketplace for architectural salvage which is currently involved in a 3 year EU project to encourage reuse. And I am also developing a new space to help people shop eco and ethical fashion that will eventually encompass everything (-:
3) What are some daily habits or tips you have to live a more conscious lifestyle?
Pause for a moment. We make so many decisions each day that impact the earth, so by slowing down to plan a little better we can make a bigger difference. I prioritize reuse before recycling and I love to start my day with a zero waste beauty treat like shampoo cubes or a solid facial cleanser.
4) In the climate change movement, who inspires you most?
I’m inspired by different people at different times. Right now it’s my step dad, Thornton Kay, founder of Salvo who actually coined the word upcycling! He drives an electric car and he’s been working to encourage reuse in architecture and design since the 1970s. Antiques and reclaimed interiors are usually appreciated for their connection with history, but he focuses on their relationship with the future and the environmental benefits.
5) What are you most optimistic about in regards to environmentalism?
The awakening.
6) Name some of your favorite sustainable or ethical brands and why you trust them.
We-Resonate because it’s an eco brand that reuses vintage printed silks to create striking patchwork pieces. The founder Lizzie was a senior print designer at McQ by Alexander McQueen before she left to create her own brand. Stay tuned for a new collab and collection of headbands with War & Drobe (the website is being updated at the moment), another of my favourites made in London.
7) What are some of your resources you use to learn more about sustainability?
A while back I did an online course called Who Made My Clothes? with Fashion Revolution & University of Exeter that set the scene for me. Now I read a lot and listen a lot. Sustainability is such a huge topic, covering social, cultural, economic and ecological issues that it’s great to hear different stances and solutions. At the moment I’m reading Fashionopolis by Dana Thomas.
8) Broad topic- What gives you joy in life?
Today a woman [in her seventies wearing an ‘80s minnie mouse sweater and snake-print cycling shorts] walked into the yoga studio holding a tiny piece of foliage. She said “ Have you ever seen that?” whilst holding out her hand with a cone growing from the very tip of a fir tree leaf. I hadn’t, she hadn’t and nature gave us both joy, and her outfit doubled my delight.
