Bono isn’t known for lending himself to advertising campaigns and he doesn’t usually take part in shoots without the band members of U2, but made an exception for this shoot which promotes something close to his heart. In 2005 he and his wife, Ali Hewson, started an ethical fashion label Edun, which Vuitton parent company LVMH have supported since 2009 with a 49% share in it, in their bid to promote a more sustainable fashion ethic.

Check out the roomy Keepall 45 shoulder bag that Ali carries in the ad. Can’t helping loving a bag that has the collaboration of both these fashion forces – the known style of Louis Vuitton and the forward-thinking, fashion with a conscience of Edun, with its connections with Africa and partnerships with poverty alleviation and employment creation schemes. The Edun spring collection was shown at Paris Fashion Week last week, alongside a special exhibition of African art, African Rising, ending today.

The shoot itself took place in March this year, with Annie Leibovitz photographing Bono and Ali as they alighted from a small plane in a dry African landscape. All the production was done by Cape Town based Gavin Schneider Productions. They seamlessly handled last-minute emergency re-scheduling, when the original location in the Masai Mara was struck by unseasonable flooding. The whole shoot was re-located to Tswalu private reserve in the Kalahari, which has exactly the dry savannah landscapes that Louis Vuitton planned for their campaign. ‘Every journey began in Africa’ is the catch phrase of the ad.