A?POLITICS student from Petersfield – who has combined an entrepreneurial spirit with ethics –?has turned to fashion in a bid to support tailors in Ghana.

Edward Ashdown (21), with his friend Jack Fellows (22), has set up a start-up business called The Social Mercenary, selling ethical clothing from the African country.

They met while on a placement in Hong Kong with the Challenges Worldwide organisation, which also took them to Ghana and Zambia.

When Jack was in Ghana he became interested in the fashion industry there.

“Clothes are the costume of our identity,” he said. “But the Ghanaian textile industry has faced many years of decline.”

The pair set out to support local tailors by exporting their ethical goods, and bought 90 stylish and colourful bag to sell.

At their first selling event in Hong Kong they only sold four of the bags, but they are determined to make a success of their start-up, so they set up a website to further promote the bags, which have been all but snapped up now.

They are also launching a fundraising initiative on August 10 through Kickstarter, the online platform for gaining funding for creative projects, and will be plying their wares at African Fashion Week in London too.

If they meet their Kickstarter target of £16,000, they will be able to meet a minimum 500 bags order, and reinvest in Ghanaian tailors.

At the moment, they only have one member of staff working on making their caps, while bags made by companies including Ethical African Apparel have a network of factories.

They are also keen to buy a piece of kit called a ‘peak finisher’ which will hugely speed up their cap production.

This will be the first of its kind in the country, according to Edward, who studies international politics at Aberystwyth University.

“It’s been a journey but The Social Mercenary has grown and matured in the last six months into something I believe can make a difference in Ghana,” he said.

Edward attended The Petersfield School then Christ’s Hospital, and Jack, from Bewdley in Worcestershire, is studying at Loughborough University. They are now looking to expand the business beyond bags.

“We will be looking to sell bags, T-shirts and caps on the Kickstarter,” added Edward.

“The Social Mercenary is about more than just being a brand and smashing deliveries out to whoever orders.

“The idea is to empower both the consumer and the producer. It isn’t about help, it’s about partnership – putting entrepreneurs in Ghana on equal footing with their peers in Western markets.”

The Social Mercenary bags start at £25, with T-shirts at £20 and hats at £16.

Visit www.thesocialmercenary.com or find the company on Facebook.