Komodo: The Brand That Combines London Street Style With Sustainability

Komodo is a fashion brand that writes ethical sustainability in big letters since its foundation in 1988. With their young wanderlust spirit, the brand reflects their free and casual attitude in their apparel.

How did Komodo start? What was the inspiration behind the business?

The inspiration for Komodo came from the extensive backpacking travels of our founder, Joe, who after a close shave with an ugly Dragon on Komodo island in Bali, adopted his moniker. The brand began during the extraordinary summer of 1988 when house music with its raves and style burst onto the UK scene before spreading across the globe.

Joe Komodo returned to Bali with his friends and started to cut traditional local fabrics into contemporary London street styles. We took our music with us and East met West in a head on collision!

At our earliest trade shows, established buyers just stood and stared, dumbfounded, but before long we found a new generation of young innovative retailers across the UK, Europe and beyond. A whole new style of youth culture was born, and it was epic!

Who do you design for and what are the key trends that you see within your target group?

The Komodo customer is quite widespread and were proud that we can be dressing various generations. Now that sustainability is a lot more in the spotlight, it’s always nice to see the younger kids wanting to shop ethically, and we feel we have something to offer them as well as their mums and dads. Our clothes are casual and relaxed and designed to last you years and years. We don’t necessarily follow trends but keep everything always quite timeless but with a contemporary streetwear angle to them.

What do you offer the brands that work with you and how do you differentiate yourself from the competition?

Komodo has always stayed true to our heritage and never veered or tried to follow fads or trends, and this is what we think keeps us current and allows us to continue doing what we love. Were always learning and trying to find new ways to be eco-conscious in terms of the fabrics we use, the way they’re produced down to how they’re delivered and what they’re delivered in!

How many retailers does Komodo work with nowadays?

Komodo now serves nearly 200 retailers, mostly in the UK and Europe, but now growing again in USA and still happy for a few extra clients far and wide – from Japan to Australia – and we’re so green, we’re even in Greenland!

What will be the focus for Komodo in the second half of 2023?

We always believed Komodo had to offer shops a different look to the mainstream brands, and I feel our independent spirit, background in travel and our brilliant suppliers around the world have helped us achieve that over so many years. On a business level, we’ve always tried to be generous and fair in our business dealings, because we know that we are all part of the great fashion cycle and we need each other.