Ethical "everyday essentials" brand Kotn arrives on West Coast with Gastown pop-up

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      Like swiping right in the hopes of landing love on the mobile minefields known as dating apps, the search for the perfect, wear-everywhere T-shirt—one that hits just below the hip; is fitted but not too fitted; and keeps its shape and colour after the umpteenth machine spin because, let’s be real, ain’t nobody got time to hand-wash something as pedestrian as a cotton T—is a process that can last eons.

      But Toronto-based “everyday essentials” brand Kotn—pronounced “cotton”—is hoping the hunt ends for some Vancouverites at its recently opened pop-up shop in Gastown. Founded in 2014 by friends Benjamin Sehl, Mackenzie Yeates, and Rami Helali when Sehl was struggling to find basic, hard-wearing, and relatively affordable T-shirts during his time living in New York, the label produces responsibly manufactured Egyptian-cotton garments for men and women that are super soft, breathable, and reasonably priced.

      “Kotn was born from a desire for high-quality basics that were well-made, ethically made, and didn’t cost a fortune,” Sehl tells the Straight at the pop-up.

      Jennilee Marigomen

      Lining the racks at 348 Water Street are crewneck T-shirts and V-necks, long-sleeves, hoodies, and even cropped-sweatshirt-and-jogger sets in a core palette of black, white, and navy—each crafted from Egypt’s “white gold”, a thread that, thanks to its extra-long fibres, creates a more durable, airy material that resists pilling and, yes, is machine washable. 

      The cotton is employed largely in bed linens, but demand for the Egyptian-grown strand in apparel production has decreased significantly since 2001 due to big businesses choosing cheaper options, says Sehl. So, understanding the value and quality of the naturally grown resource, Kotn decided to partner directly with Egyptian cotton farmers—one of them Helali’s second cousin—thus ensuring they could continue their livelihoods and earn fair wages. (Kotn is the Arabic word for—you guessed it—cotton.)

      Jennilee Marigomen

      By adopting a direct-trade model in which the founders cut out middlemen by buying raw cotton straight from the source, customers also enjoy lower markups on the end product. (Prices for Ts start at $30.) The items are designed in Toronto and made at an Egyptian cut-and-sew facility in the Nile Delta. “We were witnessing what was happening in the coffee and tea industries with direct trade, and saying, ‘Hey, this is a much better, much fairer way to deal with these people, while still making sure that we get the quality we want and that there’s nothing shady happening here,’ ” notes Sehl.

      All proceeds from Kotn’s Vancouver pop-up will go toward making its Egyptian-cotton farms 100 percent organic, which requires that the sites forgo GMO seeds and prioritize water conservation, among other agricultural standards, within the next year. The company has a goal of having its farms certified organic by 2023. This is on top of Kotn’s education-related philanthropic efforts, which sees the business putting a portion of its sales toward the construction of children’s schools in the Nile Delta.

      “We didn’t start out to create a responsible brand; we just wanted to create better basics,” says Sehl. “But we knew we wanted to do a lot better ethically.”

      Kotn’s Gastown pop-up shop is open at 348 Water Street until June 14.

      Follow Lucy Lau on Twitter @lucylau.

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