LVMH

It’s debatable whether fashion can really provide an effective platform for social change. Still, for the past 6 years, Ali Hewson has made it her business to create clothes that will make a difference. And while most fashion brands aim simply to make the wearer look and feel good, the Edun label, which Hewson started with her husband, U2 frontman Bono, was created with a loftier manifesto in mind: to encourage sustainable trade with Africa. The Dublin-born childhood sweethearts (who started dating when Hewson was just 14) are the parents of four children and have long campaigned against poverty. Their initial concept for Edun was completely idealistic. It was going to be one of the world’s first ethically and environmentally conscious fashion brands, all the materials were going to be organic and there would be employment opportunities for locals. But a few years later, after Hewson, Bono, and their partner, designer Rogan Gregory, had invested millions of their own money, Edun was in enormous debt and owed its shareholders a small fortune. In 2009, powerful luxury goods conglomerate LVMH came to the rescue, buying almost 50 per cent of the company. Now, with new designer Sharon Wauchob on board, and an expanded range of styles and fabrications, the company is poised to not only benefit Africa, but hopefully finally turn a profit. I caught up with Hewson at Holt Renfrew in Toronto a couple of weeks before her recent fiftieth birthday to talk about all that she’s been trying to accomplish in the name of love.
JEANNE BEKER
From Saturday’s Globe and Mail
Published Saturday, Apr. 09, 2011 12:00AM EDT

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