In a moment where fashion often trades in surface-level gestures, a new collaboration between model and activist Adwoa Aboah and London-based intimates label Cou Cou offers something far more substantive. Launching this week, the capsule centers on an “Out of Order” slogan T-shirt—a deliberate provocation that challenges the polished perfection so often demanded of women, particularly in the lingerie and fashion industries, where the body has long been curated for consumption rather than comfort.
The partnership, timed to Mental Health Awareness Month (observed in the UK since 1949), directs all profits to Gurls Talk, the nonprofit platform Aboah founded in 2015 to create a safe space for young women navigating mental health and social issues. It’s a fitting alliance: Cou Cou, founded in 2022 by Rose Colcord, built its reputation on 100 percent organic cotton intimates—a quiet rebellion against synthetic, hyper-sexualized lingerie norms. The brand’s emphasis on natural fibers echoes a longer history in lingerie design, from the early 20th-century shift toward breathable fabrics championed by health reformers to the modern push for sustainable, body-positive undergarments.
The T-shirt will be available exclusively through Cou Cou and Dover Street Market London, with a live conversation series hosted by Aboah featuring artists and activists exploring emotional “messiness.” In an industry that has often used lingerie to sell an unattainable ideal, this project strips away the performance—leaving only honest dialogue and a cotton tee that says, quite simply, it’s okay to be out of order.
Originally reported by WWD