Fashion Minute
The September edition of Elle magazine (U.S.) features Ali Hewson and Rogan Gregory as part of the “Elle 25,” a sort of hot list for fashionistas. Ali and Rogan (sans Bono) are pictured wearing Edun clothing. The article by Jenny Feldman doesn’t provide a whole lot of new information for die-hard fans, but it’s worth reading if only for the excellent last line.
When Ali Hewson was growing up in Dublin in the ’60s, an American cousin used to send her hand-me-downs. “I was kind of antifashion,” Hewson says of her days in recycled threads and wellies. Since marrying a rock star–U2’s Bono, in 1982–and being thrust into the public eye, Hewson, 44, has become more style conscious. Then last year she decided to launch, of all things, and ecofriendly clothing line. “I want people to realize that they can effect change with how they spend their money,” she says. A mother for four who previously worked for Greenpeace and the Chernobyl Children’s Project, Hewson is a firm believer in changing the world in a “micro” way.
Designer Rogan Gregory, whose Loomstates label of denim and cottons uses organic fibers, agrees with this “small steps” philosophy. Early this year, the two–with Bono–launched Edun (nude backward), a line of men’s and women’s separates which has been flying off the shelves at Saks and Barneys New York. Gwyneth Paltrow, actor Cillian Murphy, and model Helena Christensen are just a few of those clamoring for Edun’s good Karma in the form of skinny jeans with embroidered waistbands, alpaca knits, and silk tops. For fall, Edun is offering art nouveau-inspired separates in a sophisticated palette of midnight and black.
“It’s our hope that customers will start to care about organic clothing the way they now care about organic food,” Hewson says. To this end, she and Gregory shuttle among factories on three continents, where they help develop products based on existing resources. As for Bono, the self-dubbed Man Who Brought You the Mullet: “We try to keep him as far away from the fashion as possible,” Hewson says.
U2isABLE said,
August 25, 2005 @ 11:24 am
Do you think for Fall that Edun would offer something along the lines of a size 12 for us US ladies who are “average” size? Last I tried to fit into something on the Edun line, one had to be as thin as Calista Flockart or Kate Moss. Why can’t these designers actually create clothing that fits us “average” people? Gessh!
Beth said,
August 25, 2005 @ 3:00 pm
I share your frustration about designers and I can’t wear Edun either, but then I’m not really their target market. However, there are a lot of ways we can support Edun’s main goal of Fair Trade with our purchases — that’s the real point. There are fairly traded goods online at Global Exchange (plenty of clothing options there too –store.gxonlinestore.org/index.html), or we can visit a Ten Thousand Villages shop, order a catalog from A Greater Gift (www.serrv.org/), check the labels on the coffee at the supermarket, and so on. I came back from Africa totally sold on doing whatever I can with my buying patterns to support trade justice, and I’m glad Edun is breaking into high fashion with those principles, but given my budget I need to make my “shopping is politics” commitments at the kind of places I’ve listed.