ALBERT WATSON
This campaign might also interest you
The renowned photographer Albert Watson travelled to Benin to get an impression of the diversity of life in Benin and its people and transported a better awareness of CmiA’s work.
Wearing a bathrobe—for a good cause? Absolutely. This was the idea behind the bathrobe challenge issued by Cotton made in Africa. This unusual approach allowed people to support Africa’s million-strong cotton farmers and the continent’s environment with the least amount of effort and the most amount of fun.
On 29 June 2017, the challenge kicked off as part of the “Wear a Smile” campaign. Taking part was easy: All you had to do was wear a bathrobe on this day—whether in the street, in an office, or at a restaurant, and whether taking a selfie or a video—and share the experience on a social media channel using the hashtags #wearasmile and #cottonmadeinafrica. Participants included TV judge Motsi Mabuse, Revolverheld frontman Johannes Strate, singer Maite Kelly, and actor Minh-Khai Phan-Thi.
The bathrobe is a good example to illustrate how much cotton our clothes contain. It is also a metaphor: Other than in spas, bathrobes are not normally worn in public, and, in a similar way, the African smallholder farmers who grow the raw materials for millions of textile items are virtually never in the public eye. However, Cotton made in Africa’s initiative changed this with the support of celebrity ambassadors, influencers, textile companies, and non-governmental organisations. There was even a bathrobe walk through Hamburg’s city centre.
Thanks to its great success, the campaign was repeated in 2018, starting early in the year with a flash-mob in bathrobes during Berlin’s green week in January. On 30 August, companions and friends of Cotton made in Africa threw a bathrobe party in Hallesches Haus in Berlin to kick off Bathrobe Challenge 2018, the main event of the campaign, which extended into September. Besides celebrities, participants also included textile companies and non-governmental organisations such as the Otto Group, Hugo Boss, Rewe, WWF, Welthungerhilfe, Care, and NABU.
All in all, this “fluffy” movement reached around five million people in 2018 through social media—an impressive figure.
ALBERT WATSON
This campaign might also interest you
The renowned photographer Albert Watson travelled to Benin to get an impression of the diversity of life in Benin and its people and transported a better awareness of CmiA’s work.