Cotton Incorporated Celebrates Female Trailblazers in Rosie Reborn

Ahead of National Women’s History Month, Cotton Incorporated is unveiling ‘Rosie Reborn,’ a new campaign inspired by the iconic Rosie the Riveter, to honour the strides women have made in the workforce over the past 75 years pairing the strength and durability of authentic cotton denim.

To champion the indomitable spirit of women, and dress a new generation of ‘Rosies,’ Cotton Incorporated joined forces with designers Emily Current and Meritt Elliott of the womenswear brand, THE GREAT., to reimagine and re-build a new line of modern-day jumpsuits for the barrier breaking Rosies of today. Each limited-edition jumpsuit incorporates authentic denim from an original 40’s era ‘Rosie’ jumpsuit, connecting today’s Rosies with the Rosies of the past, and illustrates how far women have come, while paving the way for future generations.

Created by DDB New York on behalf of Cotton Incorporated, the campaign showcases denim’s role as a uniform for barrier-breakers throughout American history, particularly women who entered male-dominated industries. Cotton Incorporated’s ‘Rosie Reborn’ campaign celebrates women who are redefining the workplace by spotlighting six ‘modern day Rosies’ who are breaking boundaries in their often male-dominated fields; including, professional soccer athlete and World Cup Champion, Carli Lloyd, THE GREAT. founders, Emily Current and Meritt Elliott, famed YouTube personality and welder, Barbie Parsons, Black Girls Code founder, Kimberly Bryant, and architecture thought-leader, Julia Gamolina. 

Even to this day, both Rosie the Riveter and the denim jumpsuits worn by women in the 40’s have remained powerful symbols of empowerment. Inspired by this, DDB New York developed a campaign to bring attention to denim, a classic cotton fabric, and its strength overtime.

The campaign tagline: ‘Cotton Makes Denim Strong. You Make It Powerful’ encapsulates both the power of women and the strength of denim. A film directed by Kat Keene chronicles how Emily Current, Meritt Elliott and Cotton Incorporated redefined an iconic garment, in celebration of women who are redefining the workplace. Taking graphic inspiration from the World War II-era recruitment posters, DDB New York created posters of all six Modern Day Rosies wearing the reinvented denim jumpsuit. These inspirational re-designs of the ‘You Can Do It’ Rosie poster spotlight each woman’s respective accomplishments in the workplace.

Cotton Incorporated’s ‘Rosie Reborn’ creative will appear online and on social media. Over 75 percent of the people who worked to bring the campaign to life were female.