Brand: COSSAC; Model: Ilenia Goiri; Photography: Erea Azurmendi
Agata Kozak , 33 , is a founder of the timeless, feminine and versatile brand COSSAC. The brand was launched back in 2014 when sustainability was not under everyone’s radar.
“I spent so much time working with other fashion companies and realized that fashion is quite a contaminating business. I wanted to do something that is my passion but also would benefit the environment.” Agata believes that she found her niche and decided to try, “six years later, here we are and it is going great.”
The founder was raised in Poland and later moved to Barcelona to study fashion at ESDI School of Design and then to Istanbul to attend the Mimar Sinan Fine Art University. Agata believes that her university courses were informative, however, not enough importance was given to internships. “When I wanted to start working no one has asked me what university I studied at, everyone wanted to know how many years of experience I had.”
During the degree, Agata had an internship with Zara, the first fast fashion retailer. Agata described it as “a valuable place to gain in-depth fashion world experience.”
While waiting for a job offer after graduation, she decided to move to London and realised that working for a fast fashion brand was not the path she wanted to take. London became the starting point of Agata’s career. “It was a great place to start a business, it is a hub of many kinds of fashions. I was also getting a lot of mentoring and financial support from the British Government for which I am grateful.”
Agata believes if she stayed in Spain she would not start her business as it is more complicated there. However, she recently had to relocate back to Madrid to avoid difficulties caused by Brexit with deliveries to European customers.
COSSAC sells upcoming collections at over 50 international stores. The brand has been featured in countless publications such as Vogue, Elle, NYLON and has been collaborating with other creatives every season.
Last summer, Agata had collaboration with Tyler Sylvester in Madrid where they have experimented with eco-prints. “We have printed flowers directly onto garments. We have used what nature gave us and it was amazing. The work was even featured in Vogue which is a big achievement for us.”
COSSAC’s team releases between 20 and 25 new garments every seasons. The collections are inspired mostly by Agata’s travel experiences, especially Japan, where Agata used to spend a lot of time before the pandemic.
Every aspect of the COSSAC is sustainable, starting with the recyclable packaging to eco-friendly materials. From the beginning, the idea of the brand was to fight against massive overproduction.
“I do think it is one of the problems within fashion, brands produce too many things in general.”
Agata found a solution within the concept of Capsule Wardrobes. “We produce a very concise range. The pieces mix and match so you could spend the whole season wearing only those clothes.” A capsule closet allows customers to wear the same garment up or down, depending on the occasion. The founder also began working on the multifunctional aspect as it allows to create two or three different outfits with one garment. COSSAC’s neutral colours compliment the versatile designs.
“I use universal tones which you can wear for the seasons to come because they are simply timeless.”
The SS21 collection includes classic black and cream tones but with a touch of pastel pink and print to create not-so-basic-basics. “The prints I have used are quite abstract but easy patterns. I would never go after trendy prints because it will not be relevant in five months, but prints do catch customers attention and they tend to sell well online.”
The SS21 prints are created on the EcoVero viscose which has bioactive finish. Agata is surprised by the fabric selection nowadays as a few years ago it was limited choices.
“At the moment, there are so many great innovative fabrics made from seaweed and leather made from mushrooms. I also discovered biodegradable lining that I am using in my next AW21 collection in September.”
Agata finds sustainable materials fascinating but also believes that the production process is a big part of the business and it is important to make sure a fair work environment is provided for the workers. COSSAC maintains a close relationship with the International Organization for Standardization and GOTS, the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibres. The brand exclusively works with small factories in Portugal to minimize transportation and carbon footprint.
“We use small family run factories. I know how much money, holidays and working hours everyone gets. I know everyone personally, which is great, because I think when you work in a bigger company that personal relationship is not as possible.”
Sustainability is at the core of COSSAC, however, with environmental garments, the price goes up to cover the production fairly.
“People do not tend to talk about it but then you have a sustainable business you still need to make money. I know so many fashion brands that went bankrupt because being so focused on the sustainability side of the business, they seemed to have forgotten that you need to sell and make money to survive.”
There are many mainstream fast fashion brands who produce low-cost garments. Agata has a philosophy that cheaper does not mean better. “I think we have to change this mindset that we have that we can get the dress for £20, if the garment is that cheap, someone paid for this cheap price along the supply chain.”
Agata suggested that “instead of buying three garments, buy one which is more expensive but ethical.”
The founder believes that if designers want to start a new business now, it must be sustainable. “Sustainability is here to stay. It is not an ephemeral trend like a colour or a print. Sustainability is something that is rooted in our social responsibility.”