SLDF Ethical Fashion Award 2010 

Judges 
 

Colin McDowell has worked in Fashion for thirty years, as a designer, stylist, 
editor,  journalist  and  biographer.    The  author  of  16  books  on  fashion  and  related 
subjects, he has written on style and design for newspapers and magazines around 
the world and is senior fashion writer for the Sunday Times Style. McDowell is also 
Creative Editor at Large for Net‐A‐Porter.com. Colin was awarded an MBE in the New 
Years  Honours  list  2008.  Colin’s  books  include  the  seminal  McDowell's  Directory  of 
Twentieth  Century  Fashion;  Shoes:  Fashion  and  Fantasy;  Hats:  Status,  Style  and 
Glamour; and Fashion Today. 

                                   

   Soozie Jenkinson has been at Marks & Spencer for 16 years, 12 of which as Head 
of  Lingerie  Design.  She  is  responsible  for  the  product  direction  for  Lingerie  and  heads  up  a 
team  of  designers  with  significant  experience  in  the  lingerie  industry.  Prior  to  her  career  in 
lingerie,  Soozie  was  a  women’s  wear  fashion  designer  with  creative  roles  within  both  retail 
and  manufacturing.  Soozie  has  been  voted  one  of  the  most  influential  people  in  women’s 
fashion  several  times  by  the  press,  and  represents  M&S  lingerie  at  Press  and  PR  events  to 
communicate PR product and innovation stories. 

Elizabeth Laskar is an ethical fashion consultant with considerable UK and 
international experience. She is a founder of the Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF), which 
formed in 2004.  She advises businesses and stakeholders on sustainable market 
approaches, strategy development and works to advance the ethical apparel sector 
by providing industry support.  She also regularly speaks, teaches and writes on 
ethical fashion issues.  Currently she is developing Sri Lanka’s first ethical fashion 
award and aiding winning designers to develop a collection to link to buyers and 
London Fashion Week’s Estethica in 2011. 

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 Orsola de Castro  could  easily  be  the  most  influential  woman  in  the  world 
UK eco fashion. As co‐founder and curator of Estethica, the groundbreaking eco zone 
at  London  Fashion  Week,  Orsola  is  currently  nurturing  and  showcasing  young  eco 
fashion  brands  that  could  revolutionise  the  way  you  think  about  what  you  wear. 
Orsola is also the founder of the fashion label From Somewhere which fuels her deep 
commitment  to  support  eco  designers,  alongside  her  passionate  struggle  to  get  the 
ethical fashion world noticed.  

Filippo Ricci  is  the  co‐founder  of  Estethica,  the  groundbreaking  eco  zone  at 
London fashion week. Filippo, together with his partner Orsola de Castro, is guiding 
eco  fashion  brands  to  bring  about  change  in  consumer  perspectives  in  ethical 
fashion.  Filippo  is  also  the  founder  of  the  fashion  label  From  Somewhere  and  is 
currently spear heading Reclaimed to Wear working with industry leaders around the 
world.   Filippo  is  undoubtedly  known  as  one  of  the  most  influential  individuals  in 
ethical fashion. 

Claire Hamer  is  a  Sustainable  Sourcing  specialist  with  9  years  retail  Buying 

experience at the UK’s leading fashion retailers. Until recently, Claire spent the last 
five  years  at  Topshop  as  a  Buyer  across  Jersey,  Knitwear,  Leather  and  Accessories 
departments. During this time she also became passionate about the importance of 
the  role  of  Sustainability  within  supply  chains.  Claire  instigated  and  developed  a 
number  of  ethical  fashion  initiatives  across  all  departments  throughout  the  brand 
including development of Fairtrade cotton supply chains and working with small co‐
operatives and artisans throughout the developing world as part of an empowerment 
programme.  
 
 
 

 
Charty Durrant is a writer specializing in cultural psychology; she is also an 
ecological activist and green fashion consultant, and former Fashion Editor of The 
Sunday Times, The Observer and British Vogue. She is a lecturer in Contemporary 
Communication at The London College of Fashion. 
 Stephen Mongan is currently the sourcing and technical manager at Topshop, one
of the UK leading high street retailers. His past experience has included product
development roles for the Caterpillar and Doctor Martens brands and footwear technologist
at Pentland Brands. Stephen brings in-depth knowledge of the UK and USA high street
trends, sourcing and product management.

Gill Westaway has recently taken early retirement after a successful career
with the British Council. From 2006 until August 2010 she held the position of
Country Director in Sri Lanka and previous to that was the Director of the British
Council Philippines. Apart from her last two postings, during her time with the
British Council she held both teaching and senior management positions in the UK,
Colombia, Kenya and Indonesia. In both the Philippines and Sri Lanka she has taken
a keen interest in creative education and has worked on a number of projects to
raise awareness of the importance of creative industries development to the
national economy of the countries in which she has worked. She has just taken up
the position of Director Creative Industries Development Programme Sri Lanka at
the Academy of Design.

Ajay Amalean is one of the founding members of MAS Holdings, and

Managing Director of Retail India. Commencing his career at the grass root level,
together with the intensive professional training in technical and design, gave him
the experience in building the product development and design capabilities at MAS,
which is now the largest Design facility in the apparel sector in Sri Lanka. He is
known for inspiring imagination within the company and driving marketing &
design teams to explore their true potential. Ajay now heads the Retail operations
in India where MAS has launched its own premium lingerie brand amanté.