ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 1996 TAG: 9604220003
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ROSE MARIE BUDGE SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
Michael Edwards remembers well the moment of truth: The day he got fed up with his materialistic life and chucked his successful fashion career.
``I was doing well designing a women's wear line of gauze separates,'' he recalls. ``I was making good money and had big plans. But a terrible emptiness was eating away inside. Things didn't have any meaning.''
Edwards went looking for answers and found Jesus. And today, relocated in Carnegie, Pa., from San Antonio, he's combining his faith with his fashion talent by creating Exodus, a top-selling line of Christian sportswear.
The snappy separates and accessories are carried at Christian bookstores nationwide and also can be ordered by catalog. Last year his privately held company had $1.2 million in revenue, riding a national growth trend in Christian books, music, fashions and gifts.
The Exodus line is straightforward - T-shirts, baseball jackets, running shorts, hockey jerseys, polo shirts. Prices are moderate. Every garment features a message designed to make people think more seriously about God, their actions and goals.
There are shirts with a bold ``M'' that stands for Messiah. There are garments with a bright ``E'' that signifies eternity. There are crew-necked sweats that say ``ETS - Eternally the Same, Jesus Christ.'' There are T-shirts that say on the front, ``Don't fight naked,'' and on the back, for clarification, ``Put on the full armor of God.''
But not everything is obvious. Subtle messages such as the simple word ``Savior'' often are embroidered on pockets - incorporated into the design so you have to look twice to see them.
That's the whole idea, Edwards says. ``We want people to look once, then look twice and really notice this apparel,'' he explains. ``When we design an item, we hope it will be a conversation piece, a way to express beliefs, attract attention and maybe encourage others to discover Jesus.''
Edwards, who grew up in San Antonio, became an evangelical Christian after meeting his wife, Lisa, at Trinity Church. She was attending International Bible College to prepare for youth ministry. He had studied business at Texas Tech and interior design at the Art Institute of Dallas and had been deeply, but not happily, involved in women's wear designing.
``I shut down my business when Lisa and I were married,'' he says. ``She became youth minister at Trinity and I became her strong right hand. For a while, we contemplated becoming missionaries abroad, but our work in San Antonio was so rewarding that we remained at Trinity.''
Edwards designed his first Christian T-shirt for the Trinity kids to wear. Subsequent styles were silk-screened in the tiny apartment he shared with Lisa. Then he started printing in his sister's garage as he picked up accounts. Then he got his own office.
``Back when he started doing this, in about '85, it was a whole new marketing concept,'' said Laura Neutzling of Shepherd's Shoppe, a San Antonio Christian bookstore. ``He really pioneered the way....''
Christian Booksellers Association says $60 billion a year is being spent on apparel and other items with religious overtones. Some leading clothes vendors are Truth Apparel, Sunlight Living Epistles. But Exodus remains a top seller across the country and probably is one of the most varied lines - and, for Michael Edwards, the future looks bright.
In 1989, the Edwardses moved to Carnegie, near Pittsburgh, where Lisa took a job as youth pastor at the Full Gospel Church. He's still her right hand, but he also has teamed with a business partner, Dan Robbins. Together they've expanded the small T-shirt operation into a growing apparel company.
Robbins, says Edwards, truly was an answer to his prayers: ``I was getting bogged down with the financial and marketing end.... Then I met Dan at church one day. He handles the books, and I dream up the ideas for the clothes.''
The two continually add items to the line. Recent additions include wind-suits, backpacks and fanny packs. And they hope to soon launch a collection of colorful sportswear for infants and kids.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB