Kowtow

01. KOWTOW

FAIR TRADE ORGANIC COTTON CLOTHING

digital presentation & technique class: consisted of working in a

small team to produce a look for any brand of our choice. We had the liberty and opportunity to expand our ideas into creating a wonderful promotional lookbook for Kowtow, a local New Zealand fashion brand.

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WHO IS KOWTOW ?

New Zealand based, Kowtow is a certified fair trade organic clothing line. The striking and minimalist brand has a unisex aesthetic and multipurpose garments that are defiant to modern fashion consumption.

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OUR PHILOSOPHY For a long time, many of our consumers habits have appeared to have no consequence. It is now quite apparent that there is an imbalance in standards of living throughout the world which is fuelled by the Wests’ continuing short changing and exploitation of labour markets in the so called third world.

We don’t believe anyone who is truly aware of what is going on in the world want to turn their backs and support a slave trade economy.

Being into clothes we decided to do something about it.

Certified organic, fair trade clothing that is ethically and sustainably made from seed to garment. Thank you for believing in what we do.

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FROM SEED TO GARMENTS The start of the cotton process begins with our farmers planting and tending to the organic cotton top.

The factory processes both organic & non organic cotton. The organic fair trade cotton is processed in a seperate part of the factory.

The team has a well deserved chai break and some food before lovingly processing some more cotton.

Each batch of fabric is quality checked before being moved on to production.

It then gets cut into patterns ready to be sewn into our lovely Kowtow garments.

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SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The factory in Kolkata, India ; where Kowtow garments are made has the following benefits: Only works with certified organic cotton.

All fabrics are dyed using Global Organic Textile Standards approved dyes which are free of hazardous elements.

Employees receive a living wage and the factory pays for their security and pension funds.

Employees children all receive free schooling.

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CREDITS Art Direction Oscar Elmendorf Stylist Kelly Bongrain Producer Corbin Rachor Design Direction Maria Casseres Photographer Peter Pontone Film Director Cory Gazaille Special Thanks To: Professor Oscar Betancur

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