Eden Diodati

The brand Eden Diodati was born out of a fascination and desire to capture compassion, empathy and strength that lies at the heart of the beauty of the women I know. My mother, a doctor, being the foremost example.

Eden Diodati

Article: Jennifer Ewah
Photographer: Paul Mclean
Model: Alicia Burke
Hair and Make-up: Steph Lai

The inception of the journey can be traced back to 2007, but in the most primordial of ways, the inception dates back to when I first started designing and drawing at the age of three. Following part-time study at Central Saint Martins, Beaux Arts in Paris and the London College of Fashion, work at the inspiring Victoria and Albert Museum, and a Masters degree in Law at Oxford University, I discovered my true métier: combining design with a lifelong passion for ethical issues and the rights and hopes of the marginalized.

Eden Diodati is named in part after the utopic garden but also Giovanni Diodati (6 June 1576 – 3 October 1649) the Swiss-born Italian theologian and translator. He was a pioneer.

To create a global brand that evokes an utopian ideal of love for others the brand Eden Diodati seeks to evoke beauty through crafting wonderful pieces, yet also commit to love for others as well as to a strong, beautiful aesthetic. The ethical aspect of the brand is not independent of the aesthetic; it informs and inspires in the most fundamental way.

‘Art & Collaboration - Manufactured Ethically’
‘Wearable Philanthropy - Beauty through Compassion’

My ‘label of love’, was started at the convergence of two foundational, inextricably linked concepts - love and creativity. At the heart of our ethos is the desire to serve others, matched only by the desire to see inner beauty reflected through outer beauty in design. Luxury fashion is an ideal medium; it is a unique communicator of visual and social ideas as well as a conduit of individual and collective aspirations.

It was in 2007, when I travelled from London to Cairo to a World Fair Trade Organisation meeting that I first met ethical producers. Some were successfully creating social impact and supporting their communities through producing handicrafts mostly sold through charity-affiliated retailers. In talking to these producers at the weeklong conference, I felt their dissatisfaction at the status quo. They felt unable to create routes to market for more high-end products that spoke to the true nature of their skills and heritage. A passionate sense of drive grew in my heart and upon my return to London; the seeds of Eden Diodati were born.

My vision is to create a global brand that evokes a utopian ideal of love for others, through its supply chain values, ethos and commitments. A brand that creates beautiful pieces in the luxury space. A brand that continuously builds on its social impact through providing increasing numbers of marginalised women with sustainable employment and a brand that evokes beauty through compassion.

Eden Diodati currently produces jewellery in conjunction with an extraordinary cooperative of women who survived the genocide in Rwanda. Gathering orphaned and widowed women; the cooperative provides work for more than 4,000 female genocide survivors in 52 savings cooperatives. Many are living with HIV/AIDS after experiencing gender-based violence during the conflict. Employing centuries old artisanal heritage, their courage, skill, fortitude and faith inspires my creative direction, whilst challenging pre-conceptions of ‘Made in Africa’. Shifting paradigms in high-end jewellery and bringing to the market ethical luxury within a brand context affording priority to craftsmanship, provenance and elevated design.

Two sisters in Kigali founded this Rwandan cooperative. From a humble beginning, the sisters organised about twenty women and taught them how to weave and bead, and how to enhance their skills with new design techniques.

Meeting the founders of the Rwandan cooperative felt like the first of a series of little miracles. They took me to their hearts; gaining their trust has been the privilege of my life. The operations and achievements of the sisters, who are both forces of nature in themselves, I had researched extensively. I started to talk to them and to understand the mutuality of our desires to see change and transformation in the lives of those who had been broken by trauma.

‘Utopia’ is not found in perfect circumstances, but in courageous daily acts of love, forgiveness and generosity such as those shown gracefully by the women in the cooperative towards each other, Hutu and Tutsi working side-by-side.

Reflecting on how this celebration of artisanal heritage transcends cultures, Eden Diodati works on the opposite sides of the globe in Italy where metal components are manufactured and then combined with the beaded elements from Rwanda. Our story represents collaboration across continents for positive social change.

Compassion fatigue is a much-lamented phenomenon. In the current economic crisis the strain on funding means that, for charities, acquiring funds has been undermined severely; they have lost millions after successive failures in the banking sector. “Trade not aid” is a dignity-enhancing solution for developing economies, albeit no panacea for political instability and physical insecurity.

My brand brings to the market sustainable luxury, within a context of artisanal provenance and longevity. My objective is to increase capacity to employ more people, taking them out of the cycle of economic hardship.

Twenty years after the Rwandan genocide, the scars for the women in my partner cooperative remain. Yet they look forward. They are not victims of war and circumstance, and recipients of charitable hand-outs; instead they rise, to look after their children, sustain their families and to act as leaders within their communities. Just like their Western counterparts in the northern hemisphere.

The genocide is generally seen as the culmination of complex tribal conflict, centuries-old grievances that were catalysed by colonially fuelled rancour. It ended with one of the darkest, bloodiest periods of warfare in modern history, overshadowing even the Biafran war in Nigeria for the scale of the bloodshed. It was women and children that inevitably suffered the most.

It is often in the small acts that we see the God of all things working, as well as in the grandeur of statistics showing that today’s Rwanda has the highest number of female parliamentarians in the world after Denmark. The fact that Hutu and Tutsi work side by side in my partner cooperative is a humble reminder of the love that they show to each other, and it inspires me, daily.

The Eden Diodati collections draw inspiration from an artistic heritage that has bound global cultures together for centuries, as well as from the eclectic beauty found in nature. The jewellery draws on gracefully futuristic and primal elements, making Eden Diodati a brand for the modern woman who carries with her a compelling awareness of her own soul and individuality.

I feel strongly that sustainable businesses are critical to a type of renaissance in our industry, by offering to the market appealing products that also encourage wider social engagement with the latent ethical issues of our epoch. Social entrepreneurs must adopt the lexicon of fashion, but retain the heart of the third sector, in order to drive the mainstream to a tipping point of ethical awareness.

In the early years, prior to focussing exclusively on jewellery, I remained exhausted, frustrated but determined. The determination was predicated on an almost imperceptible, yet constant sense of providence working in my favour.

Now, I only see good things ahead for my label of love.

The exhilarating reality of my story and my journey has always been and always will be the people and relationships built through it, from young, talented friends and colleagues, to visionary Rwandan social business leaders. Creative and emotional bonds have formed, and common understandings of mission-driven purpose and trust have developed. I, and all those I work with closely, have a desire to see sustainable luxury brought to the fore of mainstream consciousness.

The depth of what this project means to me is partially indescribable. At its core, the brand is the pursuit of my heart, and that is why I face the challenges with optimism and faith; and because love is my inspiration and love never fails.