Marketing guru aims to 'do a Hindmarch' with reusable bottle

Tap is hoping to do for the water bottle what designer Anya Hindmarch did for the shopping bag.

It today began selling reusable £6 water bottles made of a special tough plastic.

Britain currently spends £ 1.5billion per year on designer label water, discarding more than three million empty bottles.

Tap says its bottles will last for several years, and are easy to clean.

The launch comes six months after the Evening Standard began its Water On Tap campaign, which has led to more than 3,000 London restaurants and bars offering free tap water to customers.

Tap's founder, marketing expert Joshua Blackburn, said he hoped to sign fashion designers and supermodels to back the bottles.

"We want to see Kate Moss backing tap water, not Evian," said Mr Blackburn.

"Tap water really needs an image makeover, and we plan to partner with the world's top designers to do that. We hope the bottle is the first step, and it creates a brand for water.

"Bottled water is simply a marketing invention, a brand - and one that is costing our nation both financially and environmentally.

"In a country where high quality water is literally on tap, we should be rethinking the amount we spend as a nation on designer water.

" We need to look at the plastic bag as an example - it is now seen as being a bad thing, and the fashion industry has embraced new ecofriendly shopping bags."

Shoppers snapped up 20,000 of Hindmarch's canvas "I'm Not A Plastic Bag" carriers within hours last year, turning them into instant collector's items.

Mr Blackburn's company, which gives 70 per cent of its profits to water charities, will initially sell a £6, 400ml bottle for use in the office, and a 1 litre bottle, to be launched within weeks, for use at home.

The bottles are made from Tritan plastic, which is 100 per cent recyclable and free from the polycarbonate chemicals found in most other reusable plastic bottles.

"This is all about making water cool," said Mr Blackburn. "You can reuse bottled water bottles, but they become unhygienic after a few uses.

"We spent a lot of time and money sourcing a high quality bottle that has no problems with chemicals seeping into the water, and is easy to clean.

"We hope it will become a fashion movement in itself."

The Standard's Water On Tap campaign is backed by chefs including Aldo Zilli and Tom Aikens, Thames Water and Mayor Boris Johnson.