Looking good while helping the world

Multi disciplined designer Rogan Gregory is not only helping people in the world look better, but also starting a new eco ethical way to go about it. A product designer turned fashion designer, his diverse designs range from industrial furniture to edgy avant-garde styles in his Rogan collection to light and casual everyday wear in his Loomstate Collection.

For the purpose of this blog, the clothing line of focus is his third line, called Edun. What is so enticing about this specific line besides that he’s partnered up with Bono? Asides from the fact that the clothes are beautiful, they are also made in an eco-ethical fashion. The goal of Edun is “to bring trade not aid to developing nations”. I guess their motto goes after the old saying “give a man a fish; you have fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime”.  With production sites in Tunisia, Peru, and India they are able to meet demands while being able to give more focus to African sites, specifically Tunisia. Rogan and his partners realize the reality that it’s much easier and more cost efficient to source out of places like China, but have committed to creating sustainability wherever they go. Eventually, they would like to get to the point where the factories are benefiting as much as they are.

It's companies like Edun that are really making a difference. They are people who take the more complicated and most likely more expensive route so that more people are able to benefit. This just goest to show that no matter what discipline you're in, you have choices, but most often the right choices are harder to make into reality. What I think makes Rogan so successful is his ability to understand this paradox between sustainability and our culture. He understands that people aren't readily willing to change their way of life. He knows that people won't buy something that is lacking aesthetically, nor will he make it. By creating products that are eco-ethical, but don't compromise the quality of culture, Rogan is successfully making sustainability into reality. 

It would be beneficial for young companies such as EQ3 to look into eco-ethical ways of manufacturing. As innovators in modern design,  they can not only influence people's decisions in aesthetics but also begin a new wave of more sustainable manufacturing practices.