The decision to press pause on YEVU Clothing in August this year came after three years of careful planning with our leadership team in Ghana. Winding down the clothing brand was always the end goal, which I realise sounds crazy, but from the start YEVU wasn’t just about making clothes – it was also about making change. We set out to do three things: create fair, safe jobs for women in Ghana; establish a locally-owned and led social enterprise and manufacturing hub; make myself, and YEVU Clothing, redundant.A BIT ABOUT YEVU After more than a decade of building an incredible and highly-skilled team, with streamlined operations and processes in Ghana’s capital, Accra, the YEVU Foundation was able to take the reins and provide sustainable jobs for women through its own operations, independent of YEVU Clothing the brand. They scaled up manufacturing for other brands looking for ethical production on the continent (including Osei Duro and Poplin Project), as I scaled down production for YEVU Clothing. It was a truly collaborative and organic rebalancing of decision-making and leadership. Now completely locally-owned and operated under the leadership of Felicia Adwubi, the Foundation is determining its own future. KNOW WHEN TO LET GO It was really hard to press pause on YEVU Clothing! It's been a big and beautiful part of my life for a long time, and more than that, it's been a big part of many people's lives for a long time. Our team of 27 in Ghana work hard every day to make vibrant high-quality apparel for men and women in return for fair pay and the peace of mind of knowing they can send their kids to school and have food on the table. But I also know that all growth and evolution require hard decisions, compromise and letting go. Above all, I am reassured that we are not leaving our team in Ghana high and dry – they have spent years preparing for this; we have together. It won't be easy, but they are truly set up for success.

I have also ensured that our messaging is clear on this change – we are hitting pause, and that means that the door is not completely shut. A YEVU comeback might also be a part of the story – we will have to see what the future holds!EMPOWER YOUR TEAM AND THE BIZ WILL FOLLOW YEVU Foundation offers full-package production for brands that want a beautiful product and measurable impact. The team commissions and manages prints, sources fabric locally, develops samples, cuts, sews and trims, and handles packing and export so that goods arrive retail-ready. They do this while creating fair and sustainable employment opportunities for women, offering a safe and dignified place to work. They also just received a generous grant from the Australian High Commission in Ghana to deliver reusable menstrual health kits across six communities in Accra – they are making these inhouse using fabric waste. So, I feel like they have a lot of exciting and meaningful work in front of them. I will stay on as an advisor and advocate for the foreseeable future.

It took a lot longer to get here than I imagined. I didn’t see this “project” becoming a 13-year adventure when we started in 2012. Over this time, we navigated floods, theft, power cuts, a pandemic, an economic crisis, factory moves, and more than a few heartbreaks. But there was also deep joy, friendship and pride. I really didn’t know what to expect (and maybe that was a good thing!) but I’m very proud of where we’ve ended up. We’ve supported over 120 dependents, produced over 65,000 garments, sourced over 200,000 yards of fabric, and dispatched over 40,000 orders to 25 countries.

What I didn’t anticipate is how we’d close – with a lot of dedicated, loyal customers still committed to YEVU’s story and mission. People understood what we were doing with this announcement, and to some extent found it refreshing. That sense of loyalty from the community, after all this time, is something I never expected.LEAN ON PARTNERS, NOT GRANTS It was important to us to try really hard to be financially sustainable and not rely on grants or external funding. That meant delivering an awesome product or service that can compete with pure profit businesses. Customers should see quality, reliability and fit, and should never feel like they are making a charity purchase – that is not a sustainable model. I know this is not always possible – a lot of deep impact work needs subsidy because it is expensive to create change through business – but if you can plan for resilience early, do it from the beginning.

Partnering for impact matters too. Since 2019, our dispatch and fulfilment have been powered by Avenue, an Australian NDIS social enterprise. Their amazing team picked, packed and dispatched YEVU orders with care and speed, and showed me how a values-aligned partner can scale impact and customer experience at the same time. Throughout our partnership, more than 70 Avenue team members have helped ship over 40,000 YEVU items, creating real paid work for people with disability in Australia.CELEBRATE THE WINS After 13 years of YEVU, the thing I am most proud of is witnessing Felicia – now Head of YEVU Foundation – grow from an apprentice into a leader. Felicia is the reason YEVU has been a success. I am constantly blown away by her determination and her ability to solve any problem. At one point she was running the factory and leading the team, going to fashion school every night, and raising four kids under the age of eight. Not all superheroes wear capes!

Another thing is that we built this international social enterprise with zero dollars in grant funding. Sales funded the work – that kept us disciplined and focused on making something people truly wanted, and ensured we were always driven to do better and grow. Finally, I’m proud of the colour and joy we have sent out into the world. Seeing YEVU in the wild is still emotional every time.

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