EXCLUSIVE: Whitney Port Launches Sustainable Loungewear Brand
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Whitney Port is gearing up for her latest fashion venture.
The entrepreneur, who grew to fame through MTV’s hit reality TV show, “The Hills” and her spin-off show, “The City,” is launching a new fashion label in celebration of Earth Day: a sustainable loungewear brand called Cozeco. Port started working on the line last summer during the pandemic.
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“Everyone was in the middle of being hunkered down at home and wearing their loungewear and I think it really inspired me because loungewear was something — even before quarantine — that I was really passionate about,” Port said during a Zoom interview. “It’s what I wore the most and gravitated toward, but I felt there was really a hole in the marketplace for something that was affordable, accessible, direct-to-consumer and completely organic and eco-friendly.”
Port teamed with Los Angeles-based, female-founded fashion company Avalon Apparel for the collection. Port had initially worked with the company last year for her Love, Whit collection for Rent the Runway. She said that the design process for Cozeco — which is a play on cozy and eco-conscious — started with the sustainable fabrics and textiles that are Global Organic Textile Standard fabrication.
“Sustainability was at the forefront of this because I didn’t want to just come out with another loungewear collection,” she said. “I didn’t want to flood the marketplace with more with what’s already in existence. I really wanted to be mindful about that.”
The collection includes T-shirts, sweaters, sweatpants, sweat shorts and dresses in navy, orange, pale yellow and neutral tones. While the brand’s offerings are loungewear, Port stated that the pieces can be dressed up and layered to work for dressier occasions.
Some of Port’s favorite pieces in the brand’s launch collection are the oversize “dad sweater” that she says can be mixed and matched with Cozeco’s other pieces, like its mock turtleneck tank top or sweat shorts. She also favors the brand’s graphic T-shirts, which she says are an homage to her late father.
“My dad was in the fashion industry and he actually printed graphic T-shirts,” she said. “It’s funny that I’m actually doing it because I never thought I would be doing graphic T-shirts, but it just feels so nice to be honoring him in that way.”
The brand’s launch collection also includes an array of pieces in an orange and navy ribbed fabric, which Port says is meant to fit loosely and comfortably on the body. The fabric is used for many of the brand’s pieces, like its mock turtleneck, dress, sweatpants, sweat short and cardigan.
Along with offering sustainable pieces, Port wanted to make the brand affordable and accessible. All pieces are priced at under $100 and are available in sizes XS to XXL. Port has plans to expand the brand’s sizing for future collections.
Cozeco is Port’s latest venture in the fashion industry. Prior to her Rent the Runway collaboration, Port ran her Whitney Eve clothing label, which she later closed in 2013. She’s also collaborated with Target on an activewear collection.
Going forward, Port hopes to expand the brand to offer men’s wear and children’s offerings all while staying true to her sustainable mission.
“There’s just so much surplus [in fashion] and I want to be in the fashion industry and I don’t want to let that inhibit me from doing what I love,” she said. “I was like, if there’s a way for me to be able to make fashion in a sustainable way, we’re going to do that.”
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