After working for a textile company in South London, Siegle joined The Observer magazine as an administrator in 2000. She has said she had no ambitions to write at the time but that the editorial team nurtured her ability and were enthused by her interest in environmental issues. She wrote her first feature in 2001 on London's new Civil Partnerships and then has gone on to write articles, features and op ed pieces for the Guardian group, among other publications on themes of environmental and social justice. In 2004, Siegle went freelance, editing a section for Marie Claire UK magazine and became a columnist on ethical living for The Observer. She has written a number of books including Green Living in the Urban Jungle, A Good Life and To Die For: is fashion wearing out the world?. To Die For was nominated for the Orwell Prize 2012. It forms the basis of the 2015 documentary The True Cost, by director Andrew Morgan. Siegle appears in the movie and was one of the executive producers.
Television
Siegle is a reporter on the nightly BBC One programme The One Show, having joined in 2007. In 2009 and 2012, she stood in as co-presenter of The One Show on several occasions. She speaks on environmental issues on Sky News and Good Morning Britain. She was a contestant on the BBC's Pointless Celebrities. Siegle has chaired several debates on the fashion industry in the House of Commons and House of Lords taken part in main stage debates at the Royal Society and in 2016 interviewed both Dame Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney live on stage, the latter as part of the Kering sustainability Awards in London In December 2016 she hosted the APSE in Blackpool.
Fashion
Siegle is critical of large fast fashion brands pretending to be ethical. She has said the whole UK movement is in danger of being co-opted and bought up by big brands and has been particularly critical of clothes recycling initiatives. Siegle is credited by friend and colleague Livia Firth with devising the Green Carpet Challenge. Together Firth and Siegle attended the 2011 Oscars to promote sustainable fashion and have worked on other events such as the Met Ball and the Golden Globes and BAFTAs. Siegle has also directed a short film, Green Cut, on sustainable fashion that was screened at the 2012 London Film Festival. In 2014, Siegle travelled to the Brazilian Amazon and on her return, established a project with Firth and Gucci to produce zero deforestation handbags.
Personal life
Siegle was born near Chester in the UK to an Irish father and Liverpudlian mother. She attended 15 schools, moving between the UK mainly the North West and the Republic of Ireland before her family settled in Devon. At the age of 17, she moved to London to study English and Drama at Queen Mary and Westfield and Central School of Speech and Drama, London graduating in 1995. She divides her time between London and Devon where her family now lives, near Newton Abbot. Siegle married Ben Siegle in 2000 in an eco wedding at Hazelwood House in South Devon. In 2004 Siegle founded and launched the Observer Ethical Awards which celebrated their tenth anniversary in an awards ceremony at the V&A Museum in London.
Publications
Green Living in the Urban Jungle. Green Books Ltd, 2001.
