Lucianne Tonti on Regenerative Agriculture and Natural Fibres
Lucianne Tonti is a sustainable fashion journalist who we were happily introduced to last year via her book, Sundressed. We spoke to Lucianne to break down what regenerative agriculture really means, the benefit of wearing natural fibres and her approach to getting dressed.
Kowtow & Our Relationship With Clothes
Fashion Revolution Week asks us to consider what we wear, who makes our clothes and why transparency and accountability are paramount in the fashion industry. This year we wanted to spotlight a member of the Kowtow community who we think is revolutionary in the way they document and see fashion.
Founder Story with Gosia Piątek
Gosia Piątek founded Kowtow in 2006 with a vision where a necessary product, such as clothing, originated from and how it could return back into the earth, without causing harm to people or the environment. Here she tells us the journey before she started her mission and what her vision for the future of Kowtow is.
Creating a culture of care
We proudly partner with Koha Apparel, a registered charity that seeks to uplift our most marginalised, providing clean, quality clothing to those in need at no cost. Based in Tāmaki Makaurau, we spoke with founder Charli Cox about this work and how the organisation is addressing textile waste through their community clothing exchange.
Kelmarna: Creating A Food System Kinder To The Planet
Nestled in the heart of Tāmaki Makarau, Kelmarna is an urban farm whose purpose is to rebuild connections between people, food production and the land.
Sowing The Seeds For A Brighter Future
The benefits of green spaces and access to nature are long documented. As urban populations grow and the sprawl of concrete continues to encroach on the natural world, community gardens and urban farms take on a new importance. With a shared purpose to do better for the planet and our communities, Kowtow seeks to bring attention to and celebrate the Avant Gardeners - the local changemakers behind these vital green spaces.
Urban Farming For a Better Future
At Kowtow, we are inspired by Kaicycle’s small changes that make a big impact. Whether it’s regenerative and organic farming, circularity or composting, we have a shared purpose to do better for the planet. Through our long standing relationship with Kaicycle - and years of using their composting service - we have worked together to divert our waste from landfill to compost.
Community & Urban Garden Directory
The Garden Book Tee is a celebration of Avant Gardeners - the local changemakers behind our community gardens and urban farms. Nestled within our cities, these spaces become a source of education and nourishment, green patches for community amongst the urban landscape.
Lauren Brincat x Kowtow
We are excited to partner with Australian artist Lauren Brincat, for her Vivid LIVE performance at Sydney Opera House. Sharing a love of colour, textile and shape, Kowtow dressed the artist and her collaborators in a Bauhaus inspired uniform. Tutti Presto fff’ responds to the site of the Opera House, translating the visual and historical gestures of the building into cloth.
Enlightened By Nature
Our commitment to nature is evergreen. We use only 100% Fairtrade organic cotton, and with each new collection we move closer to our goal of 0% plastic. With a goal to leave the world better than we found it, that we share with our community, we’re looking to inspirational women to see how they are inspired by their natural environment and how they keep close to it, every day.
Innovate & Resist: Māori Art & Activism
There is a kōrero that has become synonymous with Māori art, it is a kōrero that reflects both where Māori art originated and where it is going. It is that Māori makers have a tradition of innovation, acknowledging that Māori have always taken up new technologies as they arrived in Aotearoa or have been developed here.
Left of the middle: How a decentralised museum model can foster climate action
For a number of years, museums and galleries have been grappling with their role and responsibility towards climate change. As institutions traditionally concerned with preserving and celebrating narratives of colonialism, globalisation, capitalism and modernity, they are intimately bound with the root causes of impending ecological collapse. Coupled with high-carbon, high-waste activities such as touring exhibitions and affiliated packaging, trends in international vernissage attendance, collecting, and preservation (often stolen objects at the heart of the ‘decolonising museums’ debate), the sector’s impact is vast.
Thumbs Up to a unified nationwide waste and recycling strategy
Thumbs Up New Zealand (Tino Pai Aotearoa) is an exciting movement working to progress the creation of a unified nationwide waste and recycling strategy so that Aotearoa can be empowered to transition out of our waste crisis. We believe that together, we can make for positive change to this smelly situation.
A Future Materials Landscape
As we enter this critical new decade, and remain immersed in coping with this unprecedented global pandemic, the urgency of the climate crisis, and therefore the importance of nature-based solutions in repairing the damage that we have done to the planet has become clearer.
Designing For 2021 — And Beyond
Founder and director of Kowtow, Gosia Piatek, in conversation with Allbirds Head of Design Jamie McLellan, and product designer Simon James of Simon James Design and Resident.
Solar Democracy
When we think of solar technology, we think of the reflective panels on roofs. We know they turn sunlight into electricity, and we merely expect them to simply function. But, when you think about it, sunlight is free and available to everyone. We get it in abundance. In fact, we receive enough sunlight every hour to provide the world's electricity for an entire year.