What does haute-couture have in common with bathroom tissue? Absolutely nothing. Except that ever since 2004, once a year, Kruger Products – known for manufacturing the most popular of bathroom tissue brands in Canada – produces an award-winning runway show called Cashmere Collection.
Twenty years ago, when Kruger Products was in the midst of rebranding Cottonelle, a then-new acquisition, the VP of marketing at the time, Nancy Marcus, was tasked with doing something different and special. And after segmentation studies, focus groups and store analyses, along with a new logo image of a blonde woman, eyes closed, enjoying the feel of the tissue, the brand became officially known as Cashmere. “Cashmere is an incredible word because it’s known globally as a luxurious fabric,” explains current Kruger Products CMO Susan Irving. “It describes strength and softness, which is what you want in a bathroom tissue.”
When the marketing team was given the project, the instructions were to come up with a campaign to really launch the new identity in an impactful way. And so given the new name of the brand, a fashion design collection accompanied with a runway show, everyone agreed, was the perfect concept. But in the first two years of Cashmere Collection, the dresses were made out of cashmere. It wasn’t until 2007 that an unusual request was made of the participating fashion designers: make the dresses out of Cashmere bathroom tissue. “Everyone says, ‘Oh my gosh, how are they making dresses out of bathroom tissue?’ but what they don’t understand is that we’re not giving them rolls of product. They receive the bolts of fabric that we make before it’s turned into bathroom tissue.”
The mission that Kruger Products operates with has always been to make everyday life better, more comfortable. “You can do a fashion show, great,” Irving says, “but if you think about purposeful marketing, tying it to a cause and doing good just makes it that much more inspiring and connected to consumers.” Why specifically the breast cancer fight? When it comes to bathroom tissue, it’s one of the biggest CPG categories. Almost everyone has a roll in their bathroom. “If you go to the grocery store, and you’re looking for fruit, if you can’t find apples you can buy grapes or bananas. But if you can’t find toilet paper, what are you going to do?” Irving asks rhetorically. Similarly, breast cancer touches almost everyone, whether or not you directly suffer from it. It’s the most common type of cancer in women in Canada and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women. The sinister pervasiveness made it feel like the right cause for Cashmere Collections to work with. In addition to that, Kruger Products, through experience, knew that tying a marketing initiative to an important cause helps build stronger communities. “As a proudly Canadian company, we want to give back.”
The brand partnered with the Canadian Cancer Society and the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation in an effort to support their initiatives. And over the last 20 years, the Cashmere Collection program has raised over $5 million dollars for breast cancer awareness, prevention and treatment programs for its charitable partners.
When it comes to supporting the fashion ecosystem and new creative talent, the runway show is a prime platform for getting names into the mainstream. “We’re thrilled this year to be going to from 16 to 20 designers for our 20th anniversary. We’ve got 10 returning, and 10 new to the show,” Irving says excitedly. “And wait until you see the dresses.”
The show is globally renowned and so, naturally, it provides great exposure for the Canadian design industry. But while Irving doesn’t go as far as saying that the show has launched careers, she knows that it is a great way to showcase national talent. A lot of the designers, however, take on the opportunity simply because it’s a unique and challenging task. Each year a new theme is set, helping foster ideas and creativity, and so that all the designers have an interesting set of guidelines to create within. This year’s theme is Lovestruck – what love means to each fashion designer. And with everything going on in the world right now, making this year’s theme that of love seemed like hitting the nail on the head.
An illustration by Lauren Pearson of Smail Akdim’s creation from the 2023 Cashmere Collection: Lovestruck.
The experience gives an unparalleled opportunity to emerging talent, like Montreal-based Smail Akdim whose floral dress, simulating peonies and roses, is inspired from French haute-couture. “It was the first time I have ever been asked to create something with bathroom tissue. But as an artist and a fashion designer, we’re always trying to think of creative solutions, so this was a really great challenge for me,” Akdim explains.
The assignment required of Akdim – who is originally from Rabat, Morocco – specific technical and problem-solving skills in order for his creation to work out, not to mention tape, glue and ingenuity. In fact, it took him a good month of steady delicate work to complete his design. “I am immensely proud to have been chosen to participate in this runway show,” he says. “It means that my work is evolving and being recognized. But I was also humbled to join a cause like the breast cancer one through my art.”
Like Akdim, all of the other designers care about the cause. Some are directly connected to it be it through a mother, a sister or a girlfriend. The program provides the participants with an invaluable occasion to give back to society in a meaningful way while also doing what they love.“What I love too,” Irving goes on, “is that if you look at Farley Chatto or if you look at Leslie Hampton, it’s amazing just to see how their designs have evolved over the years with the Cashmere Collection.”
For a campaign like the Cashmere Collection to retain an enduring international success over all these years requires more than just a fun idea though. It’s a marketing initiative that definitely works. “We’ve done testing and market mix modeling, and this campaign’s ROI is incredible. We realized it’s become a coveted event,” says Irving. When Kruger Products tested the people who saw the show versus those who didn’t see the show, the purchase intent for the product was off the charts. The lasting impact of the program is thanks to a series of overlapping realities: the cause is important and touches many, the runway show brings lovers of fashion and design together, and the product is effective, reliable and needed by most.
The challenge, as Kruger Products moves forward with the Cashmere Collection after 20 years, is to keep it relevant and fresh. “For example, you can see that with how we’re ensuring diversity and inclusion when it comes to our models, ensuring that from a representational perspective our designers are diverse,” Irving shares. “It’s not just a Toronto show, we have designers form the east to the west. We have incredible Aboriginal designers.” This CMO, it’s obvious, is committed to keeping the Cashmere brand doing good and moving with the times.
