Kellie Dalton (29) is a founder of Re-dress, an initiative aimed at raising awareness of environmental and ethical issues in the fashion industry. This week Re-dress won an award from Social Entrepreneurs Ireland for their work in fashion.

I think people are more aware of where they're spending their money now and it's partly to do with the economic climate but they're just putting a bit more thought into it, which is what Re-dress is all about.

Re-dress started in January of this year. I was despondent when I came home from London because there was nothing happening but it was more to do with lack of knowledge and lack information.

I went to london to do research for my PHD and worked with the designer Katherine Hamnett on her campaigns and being the general dogsbody in the office.

Myself and Katherine have stayed quite close. She's amazing and so inspiring. I've never seen anyone with such energy before. She's about 60 now and she works 12-14 hour days, and she's passionate and enthusiastic and just wants to make change happen.

Stitch is a new knitting and stitching shop, opened by my mam and my auntie in Beaumont in Dublin. I had my first lesson this morning.

It's a social networking space for knitters in Dublin city because there are no wool shops around and there's nowhere for people to interact and talk to people with similar interests. The shop sells wool and haberdashery and needles and everything an aspiring or advanced knitter would need. But there's also a little café space in the back where people can sit and chat and drink tea.

In terms of my own personal style, I was told by friend that I was queen of tack because I'm a bit of a magpie – I love bling and gold. I'm a little bit of rock chick and I wear a lot of black. I love vintage and I shop as ethical as I can. I have a couple of beautiful vintage Chanel coats and Louis Vuitton bags but they're prized possessions. I don't really shop on the high street any more.