"While sustainability has always been part of the fabric of Kowtow it wasn't until we started working with Go Well that we established a clear pathway forward to achieve our ambitious goals. Over the 5+ years working with Go Well we have made significant industry leading progress towards becoming a circular fashion brand, and embedded sustainability best practices throughout our business. Go Well guidance and support have been integral to that success. I highly recommend them."
– TESSA BRADLEY, HEAD OF PRODUCT & SUSTAINABILITY, KOWTOW CLOTHING LTD
Kowtow is widely recognised as one of New Zealand’s leading ethical fashion brands — and for good reason. Founded by Gosia Piatek in Wellington in 2006, Kowtow is a seed-to-garment label working exclusively with Fairtrade organic cotton, with every garment plastic-free and fully traceable. They’re certified B Corp, GOTS, and Fairtrade, and have built their business around circular design principles, creating durable, modular pieces backed by a free repair promise and their Kowtow Relove resale programme.
We were genuinely thrilled when Kowtow reached out to us in 2021. Despite everything they’d already achieved — and despite being recognised as one of the most purpose-driven brands in the country — they didn’t yet have a developed strategy or roadmap for where they wanted to go next. They also felt they hadn’t been telling their sustainability story as fully or as well as they wanted to, given how much genuine work was happening behind the scenes.
We started with an in-depth stakeholder engagement process, which formed the foundation for their first sustainability strategy, and since then we’ve developed a second strategy as their thinking and ambitions have matured. We have supported the implementation of their strategies through our Part-time Sustainability Team (PST) service, and on the reporting side, we’ve helped Kowtow produce two GRI reports so far, with a third currently underway.
What’s been particularly exciting about this partnership is watching Kowtow’s thinking mature around circularity. They came to us already doing incredible work, but our strategy process helped them sharpen their focus and translate ambition into genuine circular solutions. Kowtow remain one of the most trusted and innovative names in New Zealand fashion, and it’s been a privilege to support a brand that was already leading the way — helping them go even further.
If you’re a purpose-driven business ready to turn your values into a clear strategy (and tell that story properly), get in touch.
We speak to Kowtow in our ‘Progress in Practice‘ podcast.
What happens to a garment when it truly reaches the end of its life?
For most fashion brands, the answer is landfill. For Wellington-based label Kowtow, the answer is something far more ambitious: transform it into biochar, and put it back into the earth.
In this episode of Progress in Practice, Go Well Consulting’s Nick Morrison sits down with Emma Wallace, Managing Director of Kowtow, to explore one of the most genuinely innovative end-of-life solutions we’ve seen in the New Zealand and Australian fashion industry. Kowtow — a label built from the ground up on fair trade organic cotton and ethical manufacturing — has completed the first trial of their biochar initiative as part of what they now call the Regenerate Programme.
Listen to the episode:
If you’re a purpose-driven business ready to turn your values into a clear strategy (and tell that story properly), get in touch.