Meet LOWF Apparel, the purpose-driven Melbourne label making premium streetwear
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LOWF APPAREL
WORDS BY KATE STREADER
“Premium apparel, by nature, can be very exclusive but does it need to be exclusionary in ethos?”
Sione Taufa’s interest in design and garment making was somewhat inevitable. He grew up helping and observing his mother in her tailoring workshop, watching her spend “endless hours” poring over every detail of the traditional Tongan clothing she made.
It wasn’t until later in life that Sione began exploring his fascination with fashion through his premium streetwear label, LOWF Apparel. Having spent the past three years cultivating the brand, he’s mirrored the detail-oriented approach instilled by his mother as he carefully built the community-oriented label he envisioned.
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Sione has seen to it that every step of LOWF’s manufacturing and supply chain, as well as everything from the materials used in the garments to the packaging it’s sent to customers in, is sustainable and ethical.
We caught up with him to hear about how LOWF came to be what it is today, the label’s latest Breaking Bread with Friends campaign and what the future holds for the brand.
How did LOWF Apparel get started?
Over the years, I developed a love for fashion, art and music and how these creative outlets brought people together. What was missing for me, personally, across premium streetwear was a sense of genuine community. Premium apparel, by nature, can be very exclusive, but does it need to be exclusionary in ethos? Does it need to feel like a ‘cool kids club’ where only certain people are invited to sit at the table? I sat on this thought for a long time, and that’s how LOWF was born.
With LOWF, it was important to build the brand from the ground up in a way that sparks connection with people. We all have a basic, but important, need for connection.
Can you talk me through the process and the challenges?
One of the biggest challenges early on was finding a manufacturing partner that aligns with our core values for ethical production. But through hard work and determination, we landed on producing LOWF garments with our manufacturer based in Europe, which is a well-known hub for top-tier quality and production in the textile industry. Our partners are really focussed on looking after their workers and have a certified process for ethical manufacturing, which is in line with our values.
Sustainability is an important part of the LOWF ethos. What are some of the ways you’ve incorporated sustainability into the way the brand operates?
We wanted to operate with sustainability at the forefront, so we chose to take the path less travelled with regards to manufacturing our garments, so we choose to work with organic and recycled materials, and a certified process for manufacturing in line with our ethical values.
Another way we incorporate sustainability is through packaging our garments in biodegradable garment bags, which are designed to naturally breakdown after 10 to 12 months.
And being an eCommerce business, we’re really conscious not to contribute plastic to landfills, so our courier mailers are plant-based and home compostable, which also break down in three to six months, without the chemicals you’d normally find in conventional courier packaging.
We’re not 100 per cent perfect by any means, but these are just a few ways we can play our part, and we’ll continue to improve things as we grow.
How would you describe LOWF to someone who’s never seen it before?
We make premium apparel for authentic individuals. When you wear LOWF, you’re wearing quality garments that feel 100 per cent you – you’ll feel good because you’re wearing European-made pieces that fit meticulously well, and you’ll feel even better knowing that each garment is ethically produced from the finest sustainably sourced fabrics.
Can you tell us about LOWF’s latest campaign? What was the inspiration behind it and what do you want people to take from it?
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Our campaign Breaking Bread with Friends feels like a key moment that showcases the true brand ethos to the world. We worked with an exceptional group of people to bring it to life and we’re very grateful to every person involved in the project.
For this campaign, it was important to provide a collaborative platform for creative artists to come together, to inspire purpose back into the culture.
The campaign was art directed by Jode Carstens, and features a collective of truly talented individuals from across Melbourne/Naarm’s creative scene: artists Noah daCosta and Daniel Niva, musicians Yung Shogun and ThatKidMaz and entrepreneur Zarah Garbrah.
Through this campaign, we hope to inspire people to rediscover their authentic selves and feel part of a collective that does good, and we hope that Breaking Bread with Friends is the start of that journey.
Where would you like to see LOWF go next?
We have some exciting things in the pipeline, we’re heading to Perth to work on a special project with a group of genuinely authentic creatives. We’ll be bringing that to you very soon…
And as a brand movement, we have some big ideas on how we want to build the community through the Breaking Bread with Friends platform.
That’s all I’ll say for now, but wherever we go, our core purpose will be to share good energy, ignite curiosity, conversation and change with you all. We want to inspire people to get together and do great things.
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