Common Objective releases list of 2019 CO 10 winners

The winners will be primarily celebrated online by Common Objective until it decides date of an annual physical event that brings members together to celebrate leadership, according to the company’s website. Winning businesses will benefit from a leadership award badge displayed on their CO business profile and for use in emails, websites and social media and secondly from higher search ranking.

The CO Leadership awards champion fashion businesses that are pushing the boundaries of creativity—combining great products and services with business practices that change lives and solve environmental challenges. The awards recognise trailblazers across the full spectrum of fashion business: brands, suppliers, communities, and organisations.

The final CO 10 list first had to meet a set of leadership criteria before being presented to a panel of industry experts. Judges hailed from Vogue Australia, GQ, Farfetch, Vivienne Westwood, Roland Mouret, UN Conscious Fashion Campaign, and more.

A total of 10 businesses were awarded the CO 10 awards. The list included Raeburn – a British luxury upcycling brand synonymous with design-led upcycling of unconventional materials; Osklen – a Brazillian luxury brand, experimental and innovative in its approach, with a vision to make Brazil a sustainable development innovation hub; Stella McCartney – a British luxury brand, data-driven in their sustainability and innovation; Bottletop – a accessories brand founded through a design collaboration with Mulberry that supports artisan makers in Brazil and educates young people through their foundation; Indigenous – an established US lifestyle brand, that invests in 1,000+ Peruvian artisan workers by providing microfinance.

The rest five brands to receive the awards were: Outland Denim – an Australian denim brand championed by the likes of Meghan Markle and made from 100 per cent organic cotton; Mayamiko – an urban youth brand made in Malawi, it takes ‘made in Africa’ to the masses providing training to local garment workers; Sonica Sarna Design – high-end artisan producer, including clients such as Mara Hoffman, VFCorp and Whistles; Ethical Apparel Africa (EAA) – a network of production facilities throughout Africa, developing communities and enabling market access for African production; and Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills – The world’s first vertically integrated fairtrade organic cotton supplier - from yarn to finished product.

“We’re recognising the businesses that are pioneering best practice in the fashion industry, from one end of the supply chain to the other, from established players to new generation innovators. Our goal is to reward the businesses that are taking a leadership role - and encourage others to follow suit. We’ve been delighted by the quality and range of applicants to these inaugural CO awards,” said Tamsin Lejeune, CEO of CO.

“The CO platform was created to take sustainability in the fashion industry to scale. We are seeing more and more businesses and business leaders taking sustainability seriously, and this has never been more important. The CO awards are putting the spotlight on the visionaries that will drive change - and inspire a new generation of fashion professionals,” said Harold Tillman, chairman of CO. (PC)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India