Behind the brand: Meet the design team at COS
I know I’m not the only woman who remembers the day COS came to Cork.
When that concession took prime floorspace in Brown Thomas, it was a talking point — and for women of all ages, 18 or 80.
This was something very, very special. Flattering for all sizes (as well as ages), the quality, the cut, the draping — it verged on architecture.
This was high end, but at high street prices. Cork would never be the same again.
We weren’t the only city to fall under its spell. Today it has 165 operations in 30 countries, and still it grows.
COS – ‘Collection of Style’ – launched in 2007 in London, by the Swedish masterminds behind H&M.
They had spotted a gap in the market, between luxury and disposable fashion — and they set about filling that niche. They would be H&M’s grown up big sister.
They approached Karin Gustafsson at her graduation show for her Masters at the Royal College of Art in London when she was just 26.
There from the very beginning, she’s been their head designer ever since.
Today Karin sits before me, dressed head to toe in COS, of course (“I have to but I want to,” she laughs when I ask if she wears it all the time).
She is low key, unassuming — like her designs.
They have become something of a uniform, the oversized coat, the tailored trousers, the chic trainers.
The COS woman is the same in Cork as Hong Kong, the clothes do not change for different markets.
“The collection is understated and clean, there is no need to change it, the customer enjoys it,” Karin explains.
The COS woman, she elaborates, is “a group of people, with a shared mindset, like we have.
“We don’t think of age when we design; we think the person who likes this design, this quality.
“It’s a blank canvas worn by so many people in so many different ways.”
No wonder COS has been described as ‘fashion democracy’.
Modern, minimalist and timeless, Karin ignores all catwalk trends.
The brand is functional yet flattering, there’s simplicity yet it’s structured, it’s androgynous and anonymous.
And most of all it’s cool. Very, very cool, in that minimalist Scandinavian way.
There’s a forward, future feel, yet “our DNA framework always bounces back” surmises Karin.
COS turns to art, architecture and music for inspiration.
“People come to see installations and exhibitions we host and they are wearing our clothes, it’s a shared interest with them,” she explains.
Today, I’ve just seen a preview of the COS A/W collection in London and Karin is explaining the inspiration behind what is another design masterpiece.
Again, art played a huge part.
It all began 18 months ago when the team of just 15 (“we are really busy — we lock ourselves in a room!”) sat before a blank canvas.
They began by talking about what moved them, touched them, in recent months.
“Every season we build stories by what inspires us — art, music, a fabric. Not other designers.
“Art in general is well ahead of fashion, it inspires most designers.”
Drawing on art pieces that recomposed furniture, there’s a manipulated feel to the collection, working with materials that are opposites — chiffon bonded with a stiff wool for example.
Other pieces of art inspired them – paintings with strong pops of colours but that are otherwise dark and moody.
Looking to environmental initiatives, there was the diver who invented something akin to a vacuum cleaner for the sea — he would scoop up the rubbish but leave the sea life.
The story fed into the collection — they would reuse, rework things, challenge old classics in their armour.
When it came to fabrics, there would be a utility feel. Belts and safety features – seat belt fabrics, material from life jackets –loom large.
The end result? COS’ most unique collection yet.
Pops of colour normally not associated with the line, sensational winter coats with belts like you’ve never seen before, and new takes on old classics — the white shirt, a COS staple, is again reinvented.
“Our look is easy and effortless, even for evening,” says Karin.
The fabrics are lush, the cuts perfection. And somehow, the price point is still affordable.
“We have a knowledgable team, there are wear tests. We go back and forth, sampling paring it back, until it reaches quality level,” she explains.
Incredibly, Cos doesn’t advertise either.
Instead, they support exhibitions and installations, giving back to what inspires them (the next COS collaboration is with the Salone del Mobile furniture fair in Milan on April 12).
“The clothes are the most important thing. It’s an ageless product, people relate to it, appreciate it.
“We give back to what inspires us and share it with our customers, who have the same interests as us.”
For devotees of skinny jeans — I was the only one wearing them at the fashion forward launch — it’s wide legs and culottes all the way.
For accessories, there’s the leather bag doubled with aluminium to give it a memory — so with a simple bend of the hand the shopper becomes a clutch.
The detachable white collar, a huge success for COS, has been extended.
Now there’s a polo neck that can be attached to a jumper, and a hood that can be added to the shoulders of a parka coat. Two strokes of genius, I tell Karin.
“Thank you,” she says quietly and with great modesty.
Later she adds, “we are excited and happy... lucky the customers like us.”
There is none of the ego, the fuss, usually associated with the fashion world.
Her PR team tell me later she hates giving interviews, wondering why anyone would be interested in her inspirations.
Our interview over, she takes the time to advise me on the quickest route to Heathrow.
Like I said, refreshing and down to earth — just like her creations.
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