In May, Danielle Sherman stepped down after just over three years as the creative director of Edun, and she has yet to be replaced—the company has said that it is considering “a new creative organization”—and so Edun’s CEO, Julien Labat, walked editors through the collection at the showroom. “This was done by the design team,” he said, emphasizing the continuation of ideas from previous seasons that worked well—knits with fringed hems, artisan-carved buttons—as well as newer developments. The collection is around 40 percent bigger now; in a nod to the length of time that the clothes will spend in stores, the pieces very clearly range from autumn appropriate (fringed suede in burnt orange and black, double crepe in yellow and red) to spring (optic-white cotton separates; loose, striped trapeze dresses).
As has often been the case this season, it was all about stripes, and inspiration came from the work of artist Louise Bourgeois; a 1970s picture of Diana Ross (poolside in Palm Springs in a sporty striped maillot); and the ceremonial garb of Liberia’s Gio people, who use different patterns and manners of draping to signify hierarchy within their society. In accordance with the brand’s mission, sourcing was all ethically done and intended to stimulate local African economies: Organic cotton canvas came from South Africa, jersey from Ethiopia, the striped pullovers were made in Madagascar, and hand-carved mother-of-pearl buttons were created by a Kenyan artisan. (A yarn-dyed double crepe was inspired by an African weaving technique, but rendered at an Italian mill.) The accessories were a highlight: The whipstitched leather purses had been manufactured for the first time in Madagascar, and quite charming little low-top sneakers in neutral tones—the type of thing that should be everywhere but is too often impossible to find—were made in collaboration with the African brand Sawa, which produces entirely in Ethiopia.
