MY LIGHT BULB MOMENT
The woman behind last night’s Bafta bags
GeorGia Scott, 33, launched sustainable bag company, Groundtruth, with her two sisters, Sophia and Nina, in September 2019. at last night’s awards ceremony, instead of a goody bag, Bafta gave guests a Groundtruth ‘gifting wallet’. Georgia lives in London and is engaged to her fiance obaida.
I SET up film company GroundTruth Productions with my sister Sophia 15 years ago. We make documentaries in Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East. It was always a nightmare packing camera equipment. We never had the right backpack. What we wanted was one that was durable but not damaging to the environment.
As filmmakers, we have witnessed poverty, conflict — and pollution. Sophia and I kept wondering if we could make a bag out of 100 per cent recycled plastic, from the thread and zips to the clasp.
It was persuading my younger sister Nina, 30, to join us that proved the lightbulb moment. She had worked in fabric development. We spent the next three years Winner: Groundtruth’s wallets given out at the Baftas developing our fabric and visiting plastic recycling plants. We designed 12 prototypes with fabrics made in Taiwan and Japan. The bags were then assembled in a factory in Jakarta, Indonesia, where we visited the homes of the workers.
A rucksack was our first product. It is made from recycled plastic bottles and the trim is a sustainable fabric such as a fleece. It’s black because no extra dye is used. The rucksack is safe enough to carry a camera or laptop in the desert or jungle, but is stylish enough for a city meeting, too.
Since then, we’ve brought out a line of backpacks, laptop cases and The Royal Opera House sells our recycled tote (£28) made from plastic collected from rivers and oceans around Indonesia.
We exhibited at London Fashion Week, which led to the BAFTA commission. Instead of a goodie bag, guests received a GroundTruth wallet (made from eight plastic bottles) filled with ‘experience cards’, such as dinner at the Savoy.
Our next range will focus on vegan leathers, including one made from pineapple waste.
Fashion is a part of everyday life; if you want to change people’s behaviour, it’s an interesting industry to do it with.