26 May 2008 – Arrival in Africa!

About 24 hours after I left my apartment in New York, we landed in Nairobi. We stepped out of the plane into pitch blackness, the sun had gone down long before we landed. The air was humid and warm, and it smelled delicious.

We were at the airport, about to make our last connecting flight to Entebbe, Uganda. Due to a slight mix-up, our men’s designer Josh had to get a boarding pass printed at the transfer desk. There was a mass of people at the desk, they seemed to be complaining about a cancelled flight. Some were shouting, others were laughing at the shouting people, it was a pretty lively scene! Nevertheless, we got our ticket printed and soon enough we were in the air on the way to Entebbe.

Our contact in Africa, Belinda, came to meet us at Entebbe airport along with the manager of one of the factories used by Edun. It was nearly midnight, but they sat with us in a very comfortable lounge while we had tea and waited for our visas to be processed.

It was about a 30-minute drive to Kampala from Entebbe airport. I was desperately trying to catch some first glimpses of the scenery but it was pitch black outside except for some houses along the road. When we arrived at our hotel, I fell into bed.

27 May 2008 – Kampala, Uganda

After an incredible-tasting breakfast of fruits, bacon, eggs and passionfruit juice, we headed to the first factory. The manager gave us a tour and introduced us to various people in charge of different departments. What we all found amazing was that there were so many people who were able to explain what they did and give us a demonstration, explanation, etc. It really seemed to be a big team effort and they were all so enthusiastic and full of energy – it wasn’t just one person holding things together.

The factory was clean, well-lit, and now works exclusively with organic cotton. It is a fully vertical operation, so they start with fluffy piles of cotton, spin them into yarns, knit the yarns into jersey fabric and cut and sew the fabric into finished garments. Everybody has enough space and there is a great, positive mood throughout the entire place. They had made several big improvements to lighting, safety precautions and use of space since Edun’s last visit less than a year ago. We are very happy to have seen such a positive situation there!

The next factory we visited was nearby, also in Kempala. While this was also a modern, clean, highly-skilled factory, the mood there was completely different. We later found out the reason: it had been set up by foreign investors with substantial support from the government of Uganda. Unfortunately, the government of Uganda had placed their faith in the wrong people and the investors mismanaged and later abandoned it. At one time there had been 2000 people working there, now there are fewer than 300, and these jobs are also in danger unless the new management is able to quickly find new clothing labels to work for – and it is not easy to build these relationships quickly. It was a depressing thing to see such a huge space with first-class machinery and skilled workers almost empty. The only work going through the factory when we visited was Edun’s order, and it wouldn’t be enough to sustain them for very long. A factory like this one needs at least 8 major clients to sustain itself. It’s easy to see why the government had invested – the garment trade is an excellent way of creating a lot of jobs – it’s just too bad they had partnered with the wrong people.

Josh and I discussed the situation with Belinda. She told us that both factories will be sharing a small exhibition space with her at Magic in Las Vegas. There, they hope to pick up some new clients. Fingers crossed!! Josh and I both wanted to help, so we gave them some advice on presentation and we made a few new drawings for them to update their selection of samples for the trade show.

We had a few glimpses of the city of Kampala on our way back to the airport at Entebbe. The city centre has some high and low-rise buildings and paved roads. We also saw areas where many of the buildings were simple, metal shacks and the roads were not paved. The countryside looked incredibly lush and green. Belinda told me that you can grow pretty much anything there. The earth is vibrant red, and the dust seems to get everywhere. Uganda is a very densely-populated place – 30 million people in a country about twice the size of Pennsylvania.

28 May 2008 - Nairobi, Kenya

Our next stop would be Nairobi, Kenya. We arrived after a short flight over breathtaking views of Lake Victoria and we were met by our hotel shuttle. We were in for a treat – when we arrived at our hotel, “Giraffe Manor” we were greeted by a fabulous staff, including a very tall, very beautiful giraffe named Daisy. Well, technically she’s not a member of the staff – she just lives on the giraffe sanctuary run by the owners of the hotel. We heard the whole history of the place from the owner over a nice, long dinner – it was fascinating, and I could devote pages of text to it but I don’t think I could do it justice…

The next morning, we met more of the giraffes over breakfast. In fact, they ate with us, sticking their heads into the oversize windows of the breakfast room, allowing us to feed them and causing us all to pretty much forget about our plates of food.

We were picked up after breakfast by the owner of two of our factories in Kenya. The first was in Nairobi, and it makes yarn, thread, fabric and clothes. Actually, they were just in the process of setting up the sewing part when we were there. It was especially interesting to see sewing thread being made and colored. Nice to know that even the thread of our clothes can be made in Africa! They are also expanding their range of low-impact dyes and finishes.

29 May – Nakuru, Kenya

From Nairobi we drove to Nakuru, about 2-4 hours away depending on the driver and the traffic. The drive was beautiful. We watched the land change from jungle to forest to savannah, and we had amazing views of the Great Rift Valley. We also passed the white tents of a displacement camp, but we were not close enough to see anything inside.

Nakuru has wealthier areas and poorer areas. The poor areas looked dusty but not too crowded. There were several carts and shacks set up for selling vegetables, cheap shoes, pots and pans, Mobile phone cards and cooked food.

When we arrived at the factory, we were given a tour by the owner and his lovely wife. It was again a very modern establishment, with several hundred workers. Good lighting, enough space for everyone, nice and clean. We were led into a little outside area with a picnic table and a team of teenagers beading small pieces of fabric. It was a training program for schoolchildren from a special school for the deaf and dumb. They go to the factory for a week of training to let them know that they will have the possibility to have a job when they leave school. This youth training program was set up to give hope to people who would normally have little chance of ever getting a job. As adults, the same trainees are later offered jobs as beaders in the factory. We went up to another room to visit the adult beaders working there. Very neat, careful work – we decided to add beading to our Spring 09 collection so that we could incorporate this wonderful program into Edun’s line!

In the evening we had dinner at the owner's beautiful home. It was so kind of them to invite us and we had a really great evening. The food was amazing! We all left with full bellies and cheerful thoughts…

The next day we woke up at 5am in order to see the wildlife park next to our campground. We saw zebra, antelope, pelicans, flamingos, hyenas, buffalos (with horns that look like Jackie O’s hair), jackals (and little baby jackals), and a white rhino! The scenery was incredible, such an unimaginably beautiful place. It was definitely worth getting up early!!

After the wildlife park we drove back to the airport in Nairobi. Traffic was backed way up (a typical problem in Nairobi), so our driver actually had to drive beside the road to actually get us to the airport in time. It was bumpy but we arrived just in time!

Our flight took us to Mauritius for a one-day layover (it was Sunday). Paradise! We swam with the most beautiful fish I’ve ever seen!

2 June 2008 – Antananarivo, Madagascar

Next stop was Antananarivo in Madagascar. The drive from the airport was colourful and crowded. Most of the drive was through urban areas, so our first views of the place were of lively streets surrounded by market stalls and a lot of people.

After a short drive we arrived at the first factory. This was probably the largest and most productive of the factories we visited. They specialize in a narrow range of techniques but they do them very well. The machines are in one huge hall, nearly all of them are manual knitting machines – so each one is set up by hand and each machine requires a person to run the yarn back and forth across the garment. This type of machine looks very much like a home knitter. All the machines were in very good condition and the sweaters we saw being made looked flawless. We toured the different areas of the factory, from linking, to quality control, to yarn storage. All very clean, simple, and efficient. After the tour, we met with our contacts, Ingrid and Winny. Lovely ladies!

On our way to the next factory we saw a few other warehouse-type buildings. Belinda informed us that these were also textile and clothing factories, and that Madagascar actually has quite a substantial clothing industry. The industry accounts for a great many jobs in Antananarivo.

We also had some more views of the city, including a lovely reservoir and some nice older buildings on the hilltops around us. We drove along what looked like a canal, watching the people and the scenery. Once again, there was a lot of action around us, the marketplaces and we passed looked busy. There were many small shops selling vegetables, meat, household items, etc. and the road was packed not only with cars but also the occasional donkey cart or pull-cart.

The next destination was the shirting factory where our men’s shirts are made. This is a fairly new factory for us, but it’s the sister company of one we’d already been working with in Mauritius. We had kind of a chaotic visit, and most of the people there did not speak much English so we had to proceed slowly and carefully using a mixture of French and English. There had been a few concerns with consistency and shrinkage, so Josh had to spend some time with the patternmakers and quality control people to sort things out. We were glad to have the chance to meet face-to-face, I think it made a big difference.

It was about a 45-minute drive to the next place, so during the drive we had a chance to chat with Belinda, our agent based in Africa. She’s an interesting person and it was fascinating to hear about some of her experiences on the job and the challenges she faces. She recently had a few run-ins with a very predatory US clothing company. Apparently the company had been late to realize the high demand for organic cotton and were now panicking and trying to source it in a very unethical manner. In an effort to protect not only our supply chain but also the Ugandan farmers that grow much of our organic cotton, Belinda actually had to call the President of Uganda. He decided to take our side in the matter, but the other company is still trying to cause problems…

Our last stop of the tour was to check out a knitting factory that we had never seen before. The owner is a very nice ex-pat and the factory is absolutely stunning. It is incredibly well-run and perfectly organized. The machinery is very modern and in great condition, the yarn stock is all bar-coded and electronically monitored, plus there is an on-site medical office. We were shown some samples of their work – all very impressive, very high quality.

We got a tour of the dying facility he shares with two other companies. It was amazing – sparkling clean and full of every type of dying machine we could ask for. The dying facility also has its own water treatment centre, so all of the water that comes out of the building is clean and pH neutral. No harmful chemicals are released into the environment from this facility.

That evening, I was on my way back home to New York. We’d been gone for nearly 2 weeks but it had gone by so fast. I learned so much about our company and our clothes in that time, and as I was flying back my head was filled with ideas for next season’s collection. All the people we had met, the new things I had seen, the factories, this whole amazing experience will stay with me for a very long time. I can’t wait to go back!