Why fashion designer Olivia Rambelli wants to change the system from within

“I started working as a bridge between design, product creation and sustainability,” Olivia says. “Translating what the sustainability department wants to the creative teams.”

That position became especially meaningful while working in larger fashion companies, including fast fashion. Olivia loved the creative side of her work, but also felt the tension of being part of an industry that needs to change. “At a certain moment in your life as a fashion designer, you start thinking: I need to change the system,” she says. “But in my opinion, you actually have to be in the system to understand the difficulties and then try to change it.”

People sometimes asked Olivia why she did not simply move to a sustainable brand. Her answer was clear: sustainable brands were already trying to do things differently. She wanted to work where change was harder, but also potentially more meaningful.

In practice, that meant researching materials, connecting with suppliers, bringing ideas into product teams and trying to make sustainability more tangible for colleagues who were already working under pressure. In a large organisation, change can be slow. 

Sustainability has to compete with deadlines, budgets, existing routines and commercial targets. But that experience also taught Olivia something important: transition is not only about technical knowledge. It is also about persistence, creativity and the ability to connect people.

“I managed to do that in an environment where it felt almost impossible,” she says. “That gave me the feeling that I can actually make things happen.”

After leaving her last role, Olivia entered what she describes as a year of learning. It became a moment to build herself further as a professional and think about what her next step could be. She knew she wanted to continue working at the intersection of design, circularity and sustainability, but perhaps not from within one brand.

Olivia first heard about the Textile Transition Academy through Fibershed, one of the partners behind the programme. Through networking events in Basel, she had already become part of a growing community of people working on sustainable textiles and fashion. The Academy felt like a way to deepen that knowledge and broaden her network.

“I have a lot of experience in supply chains and in the design process,” she says. “But to really contribute to change, I felt I needed more specific knowledge.”

The topics of the Academy immediately felt relevant to her: biobased materials, circularity, consumer behaviour and the wider transition of the textile system. “The name of the course already felt familiar,” Olivia says. “It was like: finally, something that speaks to me.”

One theme that stood out was consumer behaviour. From her experience in large companies, Olivia knows that the industry cannot change without also changing demand. “People are often judging the big players, and I understand that,” she says. “But these companies are still profit-driven. We also have to engage customers, because if there is no demand, we will be stuck.”

For Olivia, the Academy offered a way to connect those different layers: the material side of the transition, the business reality, the design perspective and the role of consumers.

What Olivia appreciated most was the combination of knowledge, industry perspectives and open conversations. Many of the speakers came from practice, which made the transition feel less abstract. “A lot of the people talking to us came from the industry,” she says. “That was amazing for me, because I thought: what I am thinking is not impossible.”

The atmosphere also mattered. Olivia describes the programme as accessible, relatable and honest. Not overly technical or distant, but connected to the questions professionals actually face. “Everything was very relatable,” she says. “The conversations were very honest.”

During the programme, participants also worked on their own challenge and roadmap. For Olivia, that exercise helped turn a broad ambition into something more concrete. It made her sit down and ask what her next steps could be, and how she could continue contributing beyond the boundaries of one company.

“I love solving problems,” she says. “The course brought me perspective, positivity, a hopeful view and a lot of knowledge that I can use.”

For her, the textile transition is not only about materials or business models. It is also about people finding each other, learning from practice and daring to ask what could be different. “We often talk about collaboration and co-creation,” Olivia says. “But does it have to stay city-wise or country-wise? Can we not make it bigger?”

After years inside the fashion system, Olivia is now looking for ways to connect people and ideas across projects, organisations and countries. Not by stepping away from the industry, but by understanding it well enough to help change it.