Designed For Her? A Kookai Inspired Classroom Task

When I posted on LinkedIn about the KOOKAI x Hawthorn FC staff uniform collab, I figured a few people might be into it. Instead: 100,000+ views, 130+ comments, and a message from Hawthorn’s CCO (post here)

A week earlier, I’d posted about the Broncos x SABO sweatshirt drop (post here) — a crew that sold out in under 30 minutes. That post sparked dozens of replies:

“This is the first merch I’ve actually wanted.”

“I’d support any team if they made merch like this.”

“Why don’t more clubs do this?”

I wasn’t trying to make a statement. Just an observation, but the reaction was loud and clear:

We’re not talking enough about how fashion, identity, and inclusion show up in sport, and we should be, especially in our classrooms.

What These Collabs Got Right

Broncos x SABO: A Sweatshirt That Understood the Brief

No pastels. No patronising “for her” designs.Just a bold, oversized crew in Broncos colours (maroon, gold, and cream) with unapologetic lettering across the chest and sleeves.

The brilliance? They used a product women were already wearing. SABO didn’t invent something new. They brought in one of their bestsellers — a cult silhouette already trusted, styled, and loved — and let it do the work.

It wasn’t a token nod. It was a club drop that felt good to wear.And it sold out in 30 minutes for a reason.

Hawthorn x KOOKAI: A Nod to Women Behind the Game

We haven’t seen a full lookbook yet, no flashy photoshoots or influencer campaign. But what we do know is this: KOOKAI designed professional uniforms for Hawthorn’s female staff, media managers, events teams, operations staff. Not athletes.Not fans.The women doing the work, usually off camera.

As Hawthorn’s CCO put it, this was about creating “an outfit, not a uniform.”Something you’d feel confident in on game day and in the boardroom. That matters. A lot. But then came the comments.

“I love the idea — but KOOKAI doesn’t even make my size.”“If that’s the uniform, I couldn’t work there.”“In my old club job, the biggest shirt didn’t button over my chest. I wore the men’s.”

The message was mixed. Style without access isn’t inclusive, and that’s the deeper point we need to bring into our teaching.

Classroom Activity: Designed for Her? Pitching the Next Club x Fashion Collab

Here’s how I’ve turned this moment into a creative, critical marketing workshop for students.

Duration: 90 minutes

Level: Undergraduate (Sport Marketing, Branding, Sponsorship, Consumer Behaviour)

Format: Group-based, creative strategy and pitch task

Output: 3-minute live pitch + campaign concept

Scenario:

The KOOKAI x Hawthorn collab landed well, but it didn’t land with everyone. Now another professional club wants to launch its own fashion/lifestyle partnership and they’re opening a creative pitch process to do it.

Your group has been invited to pitch as the brand strategy team tasked with getting it right.

The Brief:

Design a fashion or lifestyle collaboration between a professional sport club and a brand that:

• Celebrates women behind the game (e.g. match-day staff, volunteers, members, admin/media roles)

• Reflects the club’s identity, audience, and values

• Learns from the KOOKAI x Hawthorn example—what worked and what didn’t

• Prioritises representation, access, and wearability

• Makes sense commercially and creatively

The Task:

In small groups:

1. Choose your club (professional, any code, region).

   1. Research their brand: tone, values, audience.

2. Define Your Audience.

   1. Be specific: who is this for? Women in what roles, in what context?

3. Choose a fashion/lifestyle brand that fits the club and your audience.

   1. e.g. Ruby, AJE, Hine Collection, Ngahuia, AS Colour, Kowtow, The Iconic (AU/NZ Brand examples)

4. Why this brand? Consider:

   1. Shared values

   2. Style + tone

   3. Audience overlap

   4. Inclusivity (sizing, wearability, aesthetic)

5. Build Your Concept. Pitch a campaign idea that includes:

   1. 1–2 hero products (e.g. staff jackets, rainwear, crossbody bag, ops vest)

   2. A creative campaign name or tagline

   3. A launch concept (e.g. Women in Sport round, gifting, pop-up collab)

   4. Visuals encouraged (mood boards, AI mock-ups, hand sketches)

6. Inclusivity Strategy

   1. How are you thoughtfully designing for a broader range of women, considering different body types, cultural identities, work roles, and daily realities? What does real inclusion look like for your audience, and how are you showing that through your choices?

7. Pitch It (3 mins per group)

   1. Present to the class or a mock "Executive Team." Keep it sharp. Make us believe it.

   
   

   Wrap-Up Discussion:

   Use these prompts after the pitch round:

   • Which brand-club partnerships felt authentic?

   • What forms of inclusion were addressed? Which were missing?

   • When we say "designed for women," which women do we mean?

   
   

    Want to Extend It?

   Take this challenge further by adding live curveballs that reflect the real-world politics of sport branding and partnership dynamics:

   • "The brand won’t budge on its sizing range." What do you do — pivot brands, redesign the collab, or call it out?

   • "Your club insists on launching at a men’s game." Does that shift the focus? What tensions arise?

   • "Male staff want to know why they're not included." How do you respond without diluting the intent?

   • "Internal staff push back: they don't want to be styled." How do you navigate internal culture and representation politics?

   
   

   This activity goes beyond a creative brief; it’s a chance to tackle real-world complexity in sport marketing. By using a high-profile, mostly celebrated collab as the launch point, students learn how to build on success while recognising whose voices might still be left out.

   
   

   It’s about design, but also ethics, audience awareness, internal culture, and brand courage.

   Because designing for women shouldn’t mean designing for just some women. And if we want a sport industry that looks, feels, and fits better, we need future marketers who know how to build it that way.