{"id":38665,"date":"2014-10-13T12:25:10","date_gmt":"2014-10-13T11:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/?p=38665"},"modified":"2015-01-17T19:26:23","modified_gmt":"2015-01-17T18:26:23","slug":"ones-watch-yevu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wonderlandmagazine.com\/2014\/10\/13\/ones-watch-yevu\/","title":{"rendered":"Ones to Watch: Yevu"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wonderland takes a trip to West Africa with Yevu’s Anna Robertson, an Australian designer with a socially sustainable vision<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n Move over China. West Africa is taking back the textile industry and\u00a0their garments are\u00a0made to last.\u00a0No one knows this better than\u00a0Yevu\u2019s\u00a0Anna Robertson. On a year\u00a0long trip to Ghana, the\u00a0label\u00a0founder\u00a0fell head over\u00a0sandals\u00a0for the prints\u00a0of\u00a0the people. Against a backdrop of arid, sandy landscape, the\u00a0vibrancy of bright hues and eye-popping prints, not\u00a0surprisingly,\u00a0wooed\u00a0the\u00a0Australian-native.\u00a0So\u00a0in December 2012, Yevu, the socially sustainable brand was born. Championing local industry,\u00a0a small workshop of Ghanaian seamstresses work with Anna,\u00a0to\u00a0create\u00a0the\u00a0ethical range of\u00a0printed bombers, co\u2013ord sets and patterned shirts\u00a0synonymous with\u00a0her\u00a0label. From Sydney to Ghana and now London, the\u00a0girl with the\u00a0kaleidoscope\u00a0eyes\u00a0has\u00a0garnered quite a following.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0We spoke to\u00a0Yevu\u00a0designer,\u00a0Anna Robertson,\u00a0as she launched her newest collection at her Shoreditch pop-up store.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0With no\u00a0formal training you\u00a0started\u00a0a fashion label.\u00a0Describe\u00a0your process when creating your debut\u00a02012\u00a0collection.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n For the first collection,\u00a0I\u00a0found a group of seamstresses\u00a0whose\u00a0quality was really high so I\u00a0decided to do a men\u00a0and women\u2019s range of about\u00a0300 or 400\u00a0pieces. I\u00a0thought I\u00a0might\u00a0as well do\u00a0it properly if I\u2018m going to do it at all.\u00a0We did\u00a0a small photo-shoot in\u00a0the city of Accra and that was in\u00a0August 2013.\u00a0It sold out in two days and\u00a0two\u00a0weeks later\u00a0I was back in Ghana. I did another range and then set up my online store.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0Your earlier collections champion the\u00a0African\u00a0wax\u00a0prints. What are some of the fabrics you\u2019ve used in the third\u00a0and most recent?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n We used a lot of different fabrics including\u00a0silk and\u00a0Kente.\u00a0Kente\u00a0is a\u00a0traditional Ghanaian cloth that takes the men days and days to weave. It\u2019s\u00a0usually worn by chefs and royalty at weddings and important events.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u00a0Describe the\u00a0aesthetic of the brand?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s the Australian lifestyle with the vibrancy of West Africa. It\u2019s always been a unisex brand with an urban edge.\u00a0Though in this\u00a0range\u00a0there are heavier fabrics and trans-seasonal pieces.<\/p>\n