EDUN
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| Industry | Fashion design |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Dublin, Ireland New York City, United States |
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Key people
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Ali Hewson (Co-founder) Bono (Co-founder) Julien Labat (Chief executive) Danielle Sherman (Creative director since April 2013) Sharon Wauchob (Creative director 2009–2013) Rogan Gregory (2005–2007) |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, handbags |
| Website | www |
EDUN is a fashion brand founded by Ali Hewson and Bono in 2005 to promote trade in Africa by sourcing production throughout the continent. In 2009 EDUN became part of the LVMH group.
Danielle Sherman was named Creative Director in April 2013. Her first collection debuted during NY Fashion Week, September 2013. The collection includes a range of ready-to-wear, handbags and accessories.
In 2005, Hewson and Bono founded the Edun label ("nude" spelled backwards, to suggest both "natural" and the Garden of Eden). It was intended to help bring about positive change in Africa through a fair trade-based relationship rather than by direct aid. Hewson said they wanted "to show that you can make a for-profit business where everybody in the chain is treated well."
Since it was launched, Edun has sourced globally from various countries both in and out of Africa, including Peru, Tunisia, Tanzania, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Uganda and China. The company now produces 85% of its collection in Africa.
Edun struggled as a business, and Ali Hewson later admitted that she and Bono had incorrectly focused on the mission rather than the product, which led to their failings. She also admitted that this led to a fall in quality, which was not expected from a fashion brand. With their African suppliers, Edun faced problems with the quality and delivery times of the goods, and causing most of the stores to drop it. It lost €9.7 million in 2007 and did still worse in 2008, by the end of which it had some €8.7 million in debts.
"We felt if we failed it would be a double failure. We'd be saying, 'We can't do this,' and then other companies would go, 'Well, see? We've always known that. Basically we dug our heels in and said, 'We're staying. We're going to make it work."
The New York City and Dublin based company ran up against the limitations of Africa manufacturing. Hewson said that she considered ending the company; she and her husband consulted with friends, one of them was the Columbia University economist Jeffrey Sachs, who told them to go on with the project.
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Wikipedia