Judge's comments:

Captured the ethos and feeling of the brand beautifully. A very honesty, almost vulnerable authenticity of design. It wears its heart on its sleeve, and practices what it preaches.

Description:

At Kowtow, our vision is to create clothing that comes from the earth and can return back to it without harm. To realise this circular vision our garments need to start their life being entirely free of plastic so we set ourselves a challenge: remove any remaining plastic components and transition to a completely plastic free clothing brand. The only parameters were to stay true to the principles of circular design - reduce waste, make products that last, keep them in use and regenerate the natural environment at every point in the process.

For years our team remained dedicated to eliminating all plastic-derived materials from our clothing. A journey that defied industry conventions to ensure that by January 2024, we could proudly offer completely plastic-free Fairtrade organic cotton clothing.

Along the way we learned that a pivotal moment occurs when we explain to someone that every part of their garment, from the elastic to the trims and thread, typically contains plastic. Once people understand this, they can't unknow it, creating a powerful realization.

We set out to establish Kowtow as the pioneers of plastic-free fashion and bring individuals into this moment of realisation - that the clothes they’re wearing right now probably contain harmful plastic. Our ambition was a mainstream media conversation to spark a global dialogue.

The core of our response was a bold and transformative idea: package all our knowledge and make it open source for customers and the entire industry. While this move made us nervous, it aligned perfectly with our core values of radical transparency, community upliftment, knowledge sharing, education, and positive impact.

Our challenge was to give voice and substance to the Plastic Free conversation in a manner that was urgent and declarative, yet sensitive to the prevalent fashion greenwashing. It was a crucial moment to stake our claim and be bold but we wanted to do it in our voice, ensuring it had a sense of eloquence and optimism.

At the heart of the initiative was an open-source handbook, a gesture to accelerate the transition to plastic-free clothing within the industry. Each page contains the specifications for the components of Kowtow garments. The index provides supplier contact information for the components we now use as standard.

This powerful campaign for our first plastic-free collection has been a significant milestone for the brand. Kowtow was at the centre of a mainstream & fashion media conversation across tv, radio and digital platforms - with the added highlight of a leadership mention in The Guardian.

As the fashion industry moves towards a circular future, this campaign has positioned Kowtow at the heart of the conversation, with complete openness and transparency.