Always turned pad fabric into 'Not Hot' periodwear to cool Saudi women in 45°C summers

Saudi summers are brutally hot, with temperatures reaching 50°C, and every part of life - air conditioning, cars, infrastructure - is designed to cope. Women on their periods faced an extra burden: rising body temperature, suffocating pads and dark layers of clothing. Always had created Cool&Dry, the first pad in the region with heat-repellent technology, but needed to launch it in a country where periods and women's bodies are rarely discussed openly.

Instead of advertising the pad, the brand looked for a way to extend its benefit to the whole body. Always teamed up with Saudi fashion designer Nasiba Hafiz to create the Not Hot Periodwear Collection - the world's first designer period wear made from the same cooling fabric as the Cool&Dry pad. The line included breezy dresses, bike shorts, driving gloves and branded car seat covers, all in bold colours and lightweight layers, sold through a pop-up store in Jeddah and her website.

The launch was treated like a fashion drop rather than a feminine-care campaign. Digital teasers ran on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat at the peak of Saudi summer, followed by the announcement of the Always x Nasiba Hafiz collaboration on both brands' channels. By making period-adjacent products bold, visible and fashionable, every item defied the taboo instead of hiding from it.

During the August-October 2022 launch window, the campaign reached 18 million Gen Z consumers and generated 32.4 million views, with 100% positive sentiment and 75.5% Gen Z awareness. Perception of Always as a brand that builds girls' confidence rose 5.9 percentage points, purchase intent grew 80%, and sales growth ran 111 times faster. The work won the Design Grand Prix at Dubai Lynx 2023.

Pad cooling fabric can cool the whole body

It solved a physical problem - heat - instead of talking about a taboo subject, so women could engage with the product publicly.

Reusing the pad's own fabric made the technology tangible: customers could touch, wear and photograph the benefit.

Partnering with a respected Saudi designer gave the collection local credibility and fashion appeal rather than medical-product awkwardness.

Launching through a pop-up store and designer website let the brand bypass category stigmas entirely.

When a taboo blocks the product message, don't push the message - change the product. Making the technology visible as a desirable object lets people buy the benefit without discussing the subject.

The Not Hot Periodwear Collection won the Design Grand Prix at Dubai Lynx 2023, a Caples award for new product/service launch, and was later honoured in regional WARC rankings. Beyond the trophies, it gave Always a repeatable template: instead of explaining what a pad does, show its technology in a form women actually want. The campaign also opened a public conversation about periods in Saudi Arabia by making the category visible, colourful and fashionable.