The Edun Pioneers Project

Desirability and sustainability are at the heart of the Edun philosophy. The company’s commitment to promoting fair trade in Africa and its respect for the entire fashion chain, from raw materials to the person who makes the clothes to the consumer who buys final products, is proof that style and substance are not mutually exclusive.

So when it came to Edun’s fall/winter 2011 men’s-wear campaign, shot by Ben Watts, the decision over which models to cast was easy. “We wanted to show people who had blazed a trail for themselves and were actually doing something in the world that was really great,” explains Ali Hewson, who founded the company in 2005. “They are exactly the kind of guys we had in mind when we were making the clothes. It doesn’t hurt that they all know how to dress and are attractive.”

Hewson and her team decided to call the campaign “Pioneers” and tapped 12 dapper social entrepreneurs effecting change in business, the arts and the environment. “They’re from all fields of life,” says Hewson, “but they’re all guys who are socially responsible and walk the walk. “

As part of Edun’s dedication to conscionable commerce, it is featuring one item worn by each of the pioneers on Edun.com for a month and donating 10 percent of sales to their respective causes.

“This is what change looks like,” affirms Jim Moriarty, chief executive of Surfrider, a dynamic activist network committed to the protection and preservation of American coastlines. “It’s a long-term commitment and it’s smart.”

Hewson, too, knows what’s smart — and what make the man. “You can’t have true style,” she says, “without intelligence.” — HORACIO SILVA