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# Project Description Nothing About Us Without Us Sara Ortiz Summary Final work I am a fashion entrepreneur and researcher passionate about reshaping narratives around ethical fashion and Latin America’s new wave of true luxury. As co-founder of ReverdeSer , a Colombian brand rooted in sustainability and artisanal craftsmanship, I work to bring handmade pieces and local know-how to the forefront of contemporary fashion. My vision aligns with a growing movement in Latin America that redefines luxury through craftmanship, storytelling, and the value of human labour. My work bridges practice and research, with a focus on giving visibility to makers and positioning Latin American fashion within global conversations on transparency, authenticity, and craft. I contributed to STRAT magazine, a student-led publication at London College of Fashion, as both a featured writer and Beauty Editorial Lead. My article explored the intersection of skincare, AI, and choice, while my editorial leadership involved shaping the creative strategy for a concept-driven beauty shoot—crafting the visual narrative and overseeing production. The shoot, which achieved a bold and cohesive aesthetic, will appear in STRAT ’s third print and digital edition. Beyond fashion, I’ve built professional experience in PR, communications and project management, both in agencies and in-house for the the private and NGO sector. These roles strengthened my skills in strategy, media relations, and content creation. Still, my true passion lies at the intersection of fashion, culture, politics, and the arts. I believe fashion never exists in a vacuum: brands must look outward, connect authentically with society, and recognise that the goal is not just to sell, but to meet real needs and deliver lasting value. I am a fashion entrepreneur and researcher passionate about reshaping narratives around ethical f... College London College of Fashion Course MA Strategic Fashion Marketing (online) Graduation year 2026 The fashion industry depends on fragmented global supply chains, with a single garment often passing through up to twenty production stages before it reaches consumers. This complexity fosters structural opacity, allowing exploitative labour practices and environmental harm to remain hidden. As concerns about ethical production and sustainability intensify, brands face mounting pressure to disclose supply chain information. Yet these transparency efforts typically centre on tier-one suppliers, leaving informal, subcontracted, and artisanal tiers unexamined. Despite the proliferation of transparency initiatives, the very people who produce the garments are rarely consulted in their design. Systems are imposed on workers rather than built with them, reinforcing their invisibility and limiting their agency. Design Justice challenges this approach by asking not only what is being designed, but also who designs it, who benefits, and who is made visible or invisible in the process (Costanza-Chock, 2020). Applied to fashion, this perspective suggests that transparency systems should go beyond representing workers’ labour to actively embedding their knowledge, priorities, and agency in both the architecture and governance of these systems. This dissertation set out to address that gap by asking: How can Colombian garment workers be meaningfully involved in the creation of the new wave of transparency models, and what impact could these models have on improving their working conditions? Grounded in Design Justice and Postcolonial Theory, the project reframes transparency from a brand-driven disclosure exercise into a participatory process centred on workers’ voices. Through interviews with artisans, workshop employees, and factory workers in Colombia, the research uncovers how workers understand transparency as honesty, authorship, reciprocity, and fair labour practices. The study also interrogates the promises and pitfalls of blockchain and Digital Product Passports, technologies that could either expand traceability or reinforce exclusion if not adapted to Colombia’s informal sector. Building on these insights, the dissertation proposes a phased roadmap for worker-centred transparency systems. The central argument being that embedding worker agency and shared governance not only advances labour justice, but also strengthens brand credibility and sets the path for truly ethical and sustainable fashion industry. Final work Share this project The fashion industry depends on fragmented global supply chains, with a single garment often passing through up to twenty production stages before it reaches consumers. This complexity fosters structural opacity, allowing exploitative labour practices and environmental harm to... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Activism Community Futures Politics Social Justice HumanCentredDesign Postcolonialism SocialDesign Sustainability
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/679934/cover ## External - https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-ortiz-valderrama-7802781ab/ - https://www.instagram.com/sariisortiz17 - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100039270173529 - https://reverdeserbog.co/home - tel:+49 17684491749 - mailto:saraortizvp@gmail.com - https://portfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/01144340/Sara-Ortiz_MAP-Final.pdf - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F679934%2Fcover&text=Nothing+About+Us+Without+Us - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F679934%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F10%2F01142637%2FShowcase.png&description=Nothing+About+Us+Without+Us