Kiwi made menstrual cup brand The Hello Cup has won gold at The Best Design Awards hosted by The Designers Institute of New Zealand.

Winning best design follows a tremendous year of success for the brand who, as well as selling in stores across New Zealand and Australia, was asked to supply cups to US retailers Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.

The awards is an annual event that showcases excellence in graphic, spatial, product, digital and motion design. As well as winning the coveted gold pin the Colour Award section, The Hello Cup was also a finalist in a further four categories and was named a contender for the overall purple pin award which recognises the bets of the best in product design.

Founders Robyn McLean and Mary Bond, who developed the menstrual cup three years ago, know how significant their win is.

“It’s massive for us, and for everyone who has a period,” says Robyn, “because it acknowledges that the design of something that sits inside a person’s body is just as important as the design of what’s on their body, in their homes and in their world.”

“Our branding, our messaging and our colour palette are deliberately different to others on the market, and the cups themselves are also a work of art, with a clever toggle on the bottom and the rim on the inside of the cup, not the outside, to make sure they are easy to use and to wear, each and every month.”

The brand’s use of fully recyclable thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), as well as their range of beautiful colours, sizes, and additional products such as sanitising spray and washable Indian cotton liners, has seen it transform from a start-up to a rising business in the global multi-billion-dollar health and wellness industry.

Demonstrating a true Kiwi success story, the judges were more than impressed with the creativity behind The Hello Cup deeming it “a perfect example of colour transforming a product and its packaging. Fresh, bright, vibrant hues convert a functional but discreet product into something fashionable and joyful.”