Kowtow founder Gosia Piatek tells us why she hates lawn, loves colour and looks forward to a more sustainable tomorrow.
What role does creativity and design play in your day-to-day life? I’m a visual person; everything has to have a considered place. It’s a bit obsessive but it makes me feel happy when objects interact well with each other — the colours, textures and how the light falls. I’m more drawn to minimalism but in the garden, more is more! I love a maximum number of blooms and don’t see much point in a lawn.
Describe your personal style/design philosophy. My home style is based around a few pieces that I know I’ll love for a very long time and that will age well. Recently I’ve been drawn to colour, which is directly linked to Kowtow. In our studio we create colours from scratch and can dip any colour we want for our collections. So, playing with interesting colour contrasts in our clothing is influencing my interior crushes.
What has defined or influenced your taste? The Designmuseum Danmark in Copenhagen, where they have an extensive collection of Danish chairs from the last century, is my happy place — such functional objects with great design that have stood the test of time. I’d like Kowtow to be the same. There’s a functionality to what we do with our Fairtrade organic cotton, for instance. We are different from most fashion designers who have an abundance of choice, because our design is born from limitations. Maybe the same as a chair designer?
What sort of home aesthetic have you developed for your city life in London? Has this changed since moving there from Aotearoa? Our brick terrace in London is more ornate than my Wellington home — and more influenced by shared choices with my partner Thomas. A while ago, we transformed the entire hall and guest bedroom in a pink plaster. It’s so beautiful: the tone and movement are an artwork in itself. We also removed the lawn and created the vegetable garden of my dreams. And I planted 1500 bulbs which I’m so looking forward to seeing come to fruition this spring.
In Wellington, we have a beautiful turn-of-the-century villa with an amazing ocean view. I haven’t spent enough time there in recent years so, to make the living room more representative of me, I’ve now chosen some fun colour pops and clashes.
How do you choose the things you live with? It’s painfully difficult as I overthink everything; I go down a rabbit hole for months before I decide. So, we still have a living room with only one beautiful Carl Hansen sofa and a huge Vitsœ shelving unit for our art books — that’s it. It’s not particularly cosy or inviting but looks amazing. This is my current conundrum: can it be beautiful, comforting and functional all at once?
Do you collect anything? Records, slowly. I recently got Lauren Hill on vinyl and before that Little Simz. I also collect handmade ceramics and have been making my own, too — I love that they are used often for meals. Anything useful makes me happy. I would collect chairs if I could, but I’m too practical to do that as I need everything to have a functional reason to exist.
Tell us about a few of your favourite things and why you appreciate them. I adore Abel perfume and the founder, Frances Shoemack. She’s such a visionary, creating a natural perfume in a market that is inundated with synthetic scents. I could never wear fragrance until I got my first-ever Abel bottle! I also love flowers; to me, they are the purest form of joy. My friend Julia Wawrzyniak has a beautiful business — Honey Flower in Paekākāriki. Her garden inspired me to grow flowers, but I’m years behind her wizardry.
Another friend, Claire Hammon, is the amazing woman behind Meadowlark. We’ve been lucky to travel to some intriguing places together and her bow earrings are the favourite item of jewellery that I own. I’m also embracing more colour in my life and
I will get our Kowtow Phoenix Jacket in red — a fun take on a traditional denim jacket, with beautiful front pleat detailing — and I just bought a red-stained ash Mattiazzi Clerici Lounge Chair from Simon James.
Also, my brother Tomek and I have been working on a project called Bento Cabins. They are small prefabricated cabins we’ve designed together with sustainable materials. We have almost completed three in our warehouse in Mount Maunganui ready for sale.
Living in London you have access to some wonderful galleries and design destinations. What are some must-visits? We go to the theatre a lot as my partner is a film director and watches the talent on stage to possibly cast in films/shows. Recently I saw Akram Khan’s Giselle at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in Islington and it was the most emotional thing I’ve ever seen, haunting and unexpected, and now I’m ruined for life as another ballet will never be as good. Bi-annually I also join an amazing bunch of art lovers and we hit all of the privately owned smaller galleries: my favourites are Hauser & Wirth (with a Piet Oudolf-designed garden), White Cube and David Zwirner.
Kowtow made the commitment to going plastic-free and the team won a gold pin at the Best Awards for this campaign. What is the relationship between design and sustainability? A reductive design philosophy and sustainability go hand in hand. Starting with materials that are good for the planet, natural and biodegradable, means where we can be creative is with shapes and colours. It doesn’t feel limiting; in fact, having these restrictions allows us to be very free.
What creative businesses do you admire in this space? Any business that can build from a sustainable foundation, such as Abel in Wellington. Like me, Frances is staunch when it comes to values and sustainability. I also love Makers of Architecture. Founders Beth Cameron and Jae Warrander are so considered with their material choices. They helped us redesign our workroom and understand sustainability and the detail you have to go into to ensure it’s not greenwashing.
This season marks the first collection by Dayne Johnston, Kowtow’s new head designer — which piece(s) are you most excited about? Dayne is a true creative and working alongside him when I’m back in the workroom is my favourite part of my job. I adore the Hera Dress for such a flattering elegant look, Nova Dress as the ultimate shirt dress, Aran Vest as a cute accessory item, the men’s Riley Jeans for a cool skater look (I love that we have more menswear but it can totally be worn by anyone), and the Tux Jacket and Tux Pant for a more tailored look that’s still super comfortable.
Approaching 20 years in business, what are your hopes for the future? We’re super-ambitious. Now that we’ve gone plastic-free and launched our Relove programme (a place to buy and sell secondhand Kowtow), we want more people to know about us — it’s a message worth spreading in our mad, wasteful industry. I want the future for everyone creating products to involve not shying away from the hard stuff, but rather to lean in and resolve issues, little by little. That’s where true impact is made. kowtowclothing.com
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