Bono's Fashion Label To Boost African Manufacturing, To Be Made In China

NewsCore - Five years ago, U2 front man Bono and his wife, Ali Hewson, founded fashion brand Edun with the lofty mission of revitalizing apparel manufacturing in sub-Saharan Africa, but they have shifted the focus of their collection, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Designer Sharon Wauchob will unveil her new vision for Edun Saturday at a New York Fashion Week show. Though some of the clothes on the runway will feature African touches like beads from Kenya, most items are set to be produced in China.

Edun launched to great fanfare but quickly ran into problems with sourcing and delivery. Shipments from Africa arrived late, and retailers complained about the garments’ design and fit, leading to poor sales. Last year, the collection was carried at just 67 stores globally, down from hundreds in 2006. The "sustainability of the product doesn't have any value unless the fashion is correct," says Ron Frasch, president and chief merchant at Saks Fifth Avenue, which dropped the line several seasons ago.

Hewson admits that she and her husband, known for his advocacy of debt relief in addition to his music, were naive about what it takes to build a fashion brand. "We focused too much on the mission in the beginning. It's the clothes, it's the product. It's a fashion company. That needs to be first and foremost," Hewson said. "The aesthetic we always knew would be important’but we didn't realize how difficult it was going to be to achieve quality."

After putting around $20 million of their own money into the still-unprofitable brand, Bono and Hewson sold 49 percent of the company last year to LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton for about $7.8 million. LVMH, the world's largest luxury conglomerate, helped the company recruit new management and a new designer, and then tried to convince the founders to expand their sourcing horizons.

Hewson and Bono initially resisted the idea of manufacturing in China, feeling that doing so would run contrary to the brand's mission. LVMH executive Mark Weber told them, "If you want to argue with the Chinese, you better have the same standards for the governments in Africa," recalled Hewson.

Read more: WSJ