For the first several years of its existence, Egyptian-Canadian label Kotn grew slowly using the standard marketing formula of the DTC era, pumping money into paid social ads, retargeting campaigns and branded influencer content designed to drive quick conversions on its website.
But it wasn’t until the label embraced a different playbook that growth really took off.
Beginning in 2022, working with strategic partner BYNK Media, Kotn shifted its creative and marketing strategy to a more community-focused approach, foregrounding its unique origins, social mission and global appeal.
It invested in expanding its brick-and-mortar retail portfolio, positioning stores as creative hubs and community spaces rather than just distribution channels. It reframed its identity from being a “sustainable brand,” with one of the highest B Corp certifications, to one driven by cultural storytelling and social impact in the farming communities that supply its cotton.
Crucially, the brand dramatically reduced sponsored influencer campaigns and instead turned to spotlighting third-culture figures. This included the likes of African-American Muslim comedian Zainab Johnson, Lebanese-American stand-up comic Emil Wakim and content creators such as New York’s Kareem Rahma and London’s Nadir Nahdi, who grew up navigating multiple cultural identities and diasporas — naturally embodying the brand’s East-meets-West sensibility.
The switch has been transformative. The brand, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, has now seen three consecutive years of strong year-on-year growth. Sales rose 60 percent in 2023, 54 percent in 2024 and a projected 56 percent in 2025. During the pandemic, growth had slowed to just 7 percent, by comparison.
In May this year, when Kotn opened its new London flagship, the brand’s first store outside North America, more than 2,000 people showed up on opening day.
“When you do things that excite you and stick to your point of view, [you] find like-minded people,” said Rami Helali, Kotn’s co-founder and chief executive officer, who grew up between Egypt and Canada. “I hate the term ‘community marketing’ because I’m not tapping into third culture. It’s what I am.”
For a brand that started a decade ago with a simple black-and-white T-shirt, it’s been a long journey. From the start, the heart of the company was the work it did with Egyptian farmers, according to Helali, sourcing its cotton directly from them and reinvesting part of its revenue into the agricultural communities it worked with. The brand put Arabic on its tote bags at a time when “Arabic was a scary thing,” Helali said.
Over time, that has changed.
“It wasn’t a lightning bolt,” said Helali. “It was an evolution. As society continued to evolve, we were able to turn the volume up more on our perspective.”
Today, it’s that perspective that draws the brand’s customers in. Kotn has cultivated a global community of customers intrinsically drawn to the brand’s multicultural point of view and offerings, which include minimalist basics like $50 T-shirts, as well as knitwear and homeware ranging from $90 to $200.
The next two years are poised to be Kotn’s most ambitious yet. Physical retail, which for many years accounted for a small portion of the brand’s revenue, currently represents about 40 percent of sales, a share the brand wants to increase to 50 percent next year. The brand has expanded from just two locations in Canada before 2022 to a total of 15 stores across cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles and New York.
Now it’s preparing to deepen its presence in Europe and the Middle East over the coming 12 to 18 months, with stores planned for Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Dubai and cities in Saudi Arabia.
“For me, shopping in a store is a huge part of our growth,” said Helali. “There’s a relationship you build.”
Kotn tries to ensure its stores operate not just as sales channels but as “third spaces” that function as gathering spots for shoppers. Its store on New York’s Lower East Side offers free space to host exhibitions, talks and community events. In London, the brand has gone further, creating a two-story artist residence above its Shoreditch flagship where creatives — particularly from the Middle East and its diaspora — can stay, work or show their art in a city where space is scarce and expensive.
Meanwhile, in rural Egypt, the brand has now employed more than 5,000 cotton farms and funded 23 schools.
“There’s an invisible thread that ties us together,” said Helali. “Ultimately at Kotn, and more broadly as we expand into hospitality, we want to build spaces where people want to belong.”
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From listening bars to in-store cafés, brands are reimagining stores as gathering spots. But whether these commerce-driven hangouts can foster true community is still up for debate.
