A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting Paula Delgado, the founder of ound. We met up to plan our collaboration (an editorial shoot as well as an interview) and I am very happy to share the results with you.

Katharina wears a hand-dyed silk top by ound.

Hi Paula, thank you so much for finding the time to talk to me! Please tell the heiter readers who you are and what you do.
I am an artist and fashion designer with more than 15 years’ experience in the fashion industry. I wanted to turn my career into something meaningful. I wanted to respect the planet and the people I work with. I have a Project called ound: I work with natural materials such as wool, silk and plants and I look at them from a design perspective. I try to make an efficient and responsible use of them, in terms of applying them in different ways and achieving a Variety of beautiful results by using very few resources.

When did you have the idea for ound and what led you to turning it into a business?
After spending 15 years working for two of the biggest retail companies in the world I became conscious of all the waste this industry produces, not only in overproduction and overconsumption, but also when it comes to using resources, both material and human resources. Prior to launching a new collection there is a lot of work to be done. Many different design samples are produced in order to launch but only less than 10% of them are used in the end. Crazy, right? The 10% that make it are then overproduced, spend a couple of weeks (sometimes a few months) in a store and then already go into sale, where there is usually no respect for them anymore. It doesn’t matter how much work and resources once went into those garments. Careless customers ruin items by letting them fall on the ground and walking over them. Seeing all of that on a regular basis made me very sad. So, I decided to make a change and turn to something that was more respectful towards the production process. I wanted to enhance the properties of materials and respect them too, just like I wanted to respect myself and my values. I therefore started to research and investigate the most traditional and primitive ways of working with textiles. I got the chance to learn more about it in rural Argentina and Scotland and so became familiar with two very different approaches for spinning, weaving and dying.

Ound reflects myself: I mainly create woollen pieces and dresses because that is what I would mostly wear. I love dresses! You can throw them on and wear a full outfit. They are wonderfully comfortable, and you can style them in different ways, just think about what a difference shoes and accessories can make! Plus, I love the idea of how silk and wool work together and how they feel. They are smooth and insulating materials, and when you put them together their properties boost. I wanted to create a brand for People who’d like to feel just as good and cosy as I do whenever I wear the garments. It is like gifting somebody with something very intimate and beautiful.

What does ound stand for?
Ound stands for something that is profound, and it is round; it makes sense. At least for me 😊.

What makes your products unique?
My products are unique because they create a bond with the person wearing them: the bond is created as soon as the wearer understands what the meaning behind the pieces is. My products are unique because a lot of labour of love goes into each of them and their quality is extraordinary. The woollen pieces take three to five days to handknit and the craftsmanship is excellent. The wool is extremely high-quality merino and corriedale wool, it is only washed, undyed and there are no chemicals applied to it. The dying and printing process of the silks also take up a lot of investigation and care. Each piece takes two weeks to be fully dyed. A lot of attention is needed to avoid colour contamination and to achieve a beautifully imperfect finish.

Where do you find inspiration?
I find inspiration in nature, art and design. I love that moment of contemplation when you look at something beautiful and it evokes certain emotions. I like to recall that moment and pass it on to my pieces.

Katharina wears a hand-dyed silk slip dress and a handknitted wool cardigan by ound.

Tell us a little bit about the production process.
The woollen pieces are handknitted in Uruguay, a small country in Southern America with some of the best merino wool in the world. Many people in the countryside work with wool. I collaborate with a group of women who handknit. They are from a little city called Santa Lucia. The pieces they make take three to five
days to be finished and the craftsmanship and quality that go into them is simply amazing. The silk I use is from Switzerland. I buy it raw and bring it to La Coruña in Western Spain, where the (then white) material is turned into my designs. The last step is done by me: I personally harvest the materials used to make the pigments. I don’t want to buy natural dye pigments as there is so much available around us that can be used (and would otherwise go to waste). I boil my findings to extract the colour, prepare the pieces that I want to dye and combine them through a process that takes up to two weeks. One piece at a time and in small batches of no more than three. For the petal prints, I harvest wildflowers, separate the tiny petals from the stems and place them one by one on a piece to create a pattern. Through a steaming process I transfer the colour from the petal to the piece.

What are small steps people can make to dress more sustainably?
I think the first step is the interest in finding out where products come from and in making decisions from there. I often read about zero waste; people say you don't have to do it perfectly, but you must start somewhere. I think this also applies to dressing. Being conscious is a good start. Also, we have to be aware
that whenever we spend money on something, we make a statement. As citizens we don’t have much political and decision-making power, however we have the power to decide how we spend our money and what kind of industry we support economically.

What’s next for you and ound?
Getting on with the work!

Where can people find you and your designs?
They can find me on instagram @_ound_, on my website www.ound-ound.com and via email: info@ound-ound.com. As you know, I love chatting to and hearing from people. If anyone has doubts, questions, suggestions, feel free to contact me 😊.

How would you describe the perfect heiter (cheerful) moment?
For me the perfect heiter moment is when you are in tune with what you deeply believe in - and people appreciate it. Somebody falling in love with a chunky wool jumper in the middle of the hottest day of the year, because they know that it is a special piece that will be with them for a long time, is another heiter moment that warms my heart.

Katharina wears a hand-dyed silk t-dress by ound.

Images: Benjamin Geissler-Evans

Interview: Katharina Geissler-Evans, heiter magazine

All garments are by ound.