Founded in 2010, Ruth Ferguson created a swimwear brand that had quality, longevity and social responsibility at its heart. Ruth studied BA Dual Honours in Politics and Spanish at Sheffield University, and went on to travel and live in Cuba, Africa, Central America and Brazil. Whilst there, she became to learn and understand the negative effects of fast fashion; how it affected people, both environmentally and socially.

Ruth went on to complete a postgraduate at the London College of Fashion, which lead her to work for designers such as Alexander McQueen and Matthew Williamson. At London Fashion Week in 2010, Ruth launched Olga Olsson. With this launch, she was awarded the EFF (Ethical Fashion Forum) Innovation Prize, sealing her mark in the eco fashion world.

Olga Olsson works with an atelier in Rio. These factories focus on training and heavily supporting women from poor backgrounds. All of the employees’ travel is paid for and all wages are paid fairly. The second atelier is part of an NGO founded by artist, Ana Castro. This atelier focuses on hand-painting the garments once they are constructed. Ana supports young people from high-risk and poor backgrounds from various areas around Rio. The apprenticeships offer training in high-quality skills whilst paying them and supporting them in future careers and/or opportunities. Both ateliers operate by the Ethical Trading Initiative Code of Conduct, making sure that no worker is taken advantage of.

With fans such as Kate Moss, Sienna Miller and Elle Macpherson, Ruth’s passion to deliver high-quality, sustainable swimwear has not gone unnoticed.

For more details please visit http://www.olgaolsson.com/.