What links her foray into architecture and her fashion label? Designer style that treads lightly on the planet.
It’s 8.30am in London and 8.30pm in Auckland. Gosia Piatek’s attention is suddenly diverted from our Facetime interview by a 10-year-old with a mop of thick dark hair bursting into the room.
It’s usually something to do with Kowtow, her innovative fashion label that has sustainability as a key design component. Her latest project has nothing to do with fashion but everything to do with the ethos that’s behind Kowtow: designer style that treads lightly on the planet. Gosia has a new business producing a range of tiny eco homes with her Mount Maunganui-based brother Tomek.
“Over the years I’ve done lots of interviews about Kowtow but this is the first one about this project. Every Kowtow interview is a similar version of the last one, but I have no idea how this one’s going to go,” she says laughing. There’s an eight-year age gap between the siblings, who did not spend a lot of time together as children, and the project has brought them closer than ever. “Tomek was always a bit of a father figure to me because my dad was away at sea a lot. Dad worked as a captain for Sealord and was away for long stints at a time, so Tomek was the one who would make sure I got my homework done. It was a tricky relationship growing up,” she says. “But in the last 15 years or so the gap has closed. Now, with this project, we have an excuse to call each other much more. Our time together is precious. It’s nice to have that freedom to be doing something with family and learning more about each other. I think that’s really profound. I’ve not said that out aloud before!”
Their early years were shaped – in different ways for each of them – by growing up behind the iron curtain. Gosia was eight years old and Tomek 16 when they fled with their parents from communist Poland, leaving everything behind to seek a new life in the west in 1985. After a brief stay at a refugee camp in Italy the family was accepted as political refugees in New Zealand. “We had to pretend we were going on a camping holiday with a tent and said goodbye to everyone and it was forever,” says Gosia. “We arrived in New Zealand with nothing.” As children, Gosia and Tomek were polar opposites. In business together, their yin and yang relationship has become a strength. Gosia loves working with teams of people. Tomek is a self-starter. “That’s been one of the biggest learning curves for me, realising that I’m such a people person. Tomek sets himself tasks and just gets on with it. He just chips away, he has a spreadsheet that tells him what to do and he’s so methodical and self-driven and self-motivated. I really value people and enjoy working with people. I like the energy you get from collaborating.”
As a visionary leader, Gosia has always been ahead of the curve: She was an early adopter of sustainable practices and ethical production. This year, she hit her stride with the release of Kowtow’s first plastic-free collection. Ditching plastic is not easy in the clothing trade. It’s everywhere. Kowtow’s collections, made from Fairtrade organic cotton, are now stitched together with non-polyester thread that’s natural and long-lasting. They use a natural elastic to provide stretch and ease in waistbands and cuffs. Buttons are made from shells and nuts. There are no zips and no synthetic stiffening in the collars. Last year she stepped down from the day-to-day running of Kowtow (its HQ is in Wellington), handing this responsibility to managing director Emma Wallace. Gosia now has a more strategic role, attending monthly board meetings via Zoom.
Life in the UK with her partner, film director Thomas Napper, took on a slower pace without having to constantly juggle two time zones. But it wasn’t long before Gosia grew restless and began searching for ways to fill the void. In a serendipitous twist, Tomek called to share an idea he had to create modular designer cabins that were also planet friendly. “My brother’s a minimalist who comes from an architecture background. I come from design and sustainability. I said why don’t we go 50/50 on the business and I’ll help with the financial side, marketing, brand work and the website.” One thing the siblings have always had in common is a strong desire to be better stewards of this planet. Like her brother, she believes in life-enhancing minimalism – everything that you need but nothing more than what you need.
For Gosia and Tomek, sustainability isn’t a separate element bolted on to design at a later stage. With Bento Cabins, planet-friendly concepts are enmeshed within the design. There is shelving in some of the cabin modules, but Gosia’s preference is to keep the shelves empty. “I don’t think you need to put anything on them,” she continues. “You can if you want, but the reality is that we are building things that are beautiful to look at. They don’t need any embellishment. When you have a house where the design has been carefully considered, if the house is placed in the right direction, with the perfect aspect, such as overlooking a beautiful tree, you don’t need to fill it with clutter. We want to encourage people to spend most of their day outside. The idea behind living small is to have a reconnection with nature.”
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Advertise with NZME.Like a Japanese single-portion meal, the cabins are designed in a box formation. They are available in multiple configurations to suit your particular needs. It’s possible to explore all the options using the website’s configuration tool. In total there are six different combos, the most complex design includes a fold-away bed and hidden pull-out seating, kitchenette and separate bathroom, and the most basic – a cabin without anything in it.
While the cabins celebrate a less-is-more approach to design, they will be made from high quality materials designed to last. Their prefabricated nature allows for quick and easy installation. Delivered as complete units, they can be set up on-site with minimal disruption, making them an ideal solution for locations with limited access. Supported by a concrete-free ground screw foundation system, which is both eco-friendly and easily removable, the cabins are also prepped for solar power integration, making them suitable for off-grid modern living. The bathroom has a waterless composting toilet, conserving thousands of liters of water annually.
The materiality of the cabin construction is high-performing thermally efficient composite SIP panels; engineered timber oak flooring, and low-emission formaldehyde-free maple wall linings and joinery.
In an ideal world, Gosia and Tomek would like to build a bolthole in New Zealand with two or three of the cabins. It would be a place where Gosia and her family could come and chill out with Tomek, his wife and their 13-year-old twins. “We’d have one cabin for all the kids to use as a sleeping room, then another one with a kitchen and bathroom that’s kept quite empty,” she says. “No one is as extreme as my brother when it comes to minimalism, but I’m still quite extreme. My partner Thomas always says I’d be happy living in a Japanese prison cell on a tatami mat and I must admit I always thought that sounded quite soothing!”
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