Ali Hewson: ethics girl ...Great article!

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Well, I do understand that Edun and Nude are for profit, as they should be. I just feel that in the case of Nude, for example, $100 for a 1 ounce moisturizer is beyond the budget of a lot of people, including myself. I'd go through a 1 ounce moisturizer in about a month or so. Origins has a new organic line with most items priced around 30 bucks. And there are many organic skincare items that can be purchased at health food stores at prices that are a little expensive but don't require a second mortgage on my house. :) I personally think that Edun and Nude could be priced a bit lower and still make a profit, but that Ali wants a more elite image for the products. That's fine, but a bit disappointing for us non-rich people who would like to support these ventures.

At least with Edun, hopefully the clothes last a long time and can be considered an investment. That's why I ultimately splurged on a few items. With Nude it is hard to justify the splurge, as the items will be used up in a short time.
 
April I really understand what you're saying. I can't afford most of these things either, though I try to support their existence in any way I can. The thing is, I don't think Ali is trying to create an elite image for the sake of it - she's just not that type of person. Edun for example is so expensive because they were going for high fashion stuff - to prove it's possible to do, to have organic and socially conscious clothes that are still beautiful and luxurious. I'm sure they would love to have these lines run much more mainstream is they could, but the market and investment hasn't been developed enough for them to do so. Designing things to sell at department stores may seem like sacrifice, but those are the companies that really make the profits. Small companies have to price high to compete with bigger mainstream brands. Hopefully people will continue to support these companies and those like them so that they can compete better, increase production (perhaps of different levels - like keeping some things high end, plus creating more mainstream stuff), more widely distribute, and lower prices.

:keepingfingerscrossed:
 
I do understand about it being a small company. Perhaps if Edun and Nude are successful she might be encouraged to put out more reasonably priced products for the masses. In fashion this seems to be a trend of late, with Vera Wang and Nicole Miller designing for Kohl's and JCPenney, respectively. The Vera Wang stuff at Kohl's is still expensive in my book, but compared to the stuff in her boutiques it's probably dirt cheap. Actually I believe Rogan has a new collection at Target.
 
I do understand about it being a small company. Perhaps if Edun and Nude are successful she might be encouraged to put out more reasonably priced products for the masses. In fashion this seems to be a trend of late, with Vera Wang and Nicole Miller designing for Kohl's and JCPenney, respectively. The Vera Wang stuff at Kohl's is still expensive in my book, but compared to the stuff in her boutiques it's probably dirt cheap. Actually I believe Rogan has a new collection at Target.

Rogans clothing is out now in my local Targets. Looks nice, but not what you would expect from him.
 
Well, I do understand that Edun and Nude are for profit, as they should be. I just feel that in the case of Nude, for example, $100 for a 1 ounce moisturizer is beyond the budget of a lot of people, including myself. I'd go through a 1 ounce moisturizer in about a month or so. Origins has a new organic line with most items priced around 30 bucks. And there are many organic skincare items that can be purchased at health food stores at prices that are a little expensive but don't require a second mortgage on my house. :) I personally think that Edun and Nude could be priced a bit lower and still make a profit, but that Ali wants a more elite image for the products. That's fine, but a bit disappointing for us non-rich people who would like to support these ventures.

At least with Edun, hopefully the clothes last a long time and can be considered an investment. That's why I ultimately splurged on a few items. With Nude it is hard to justify the splurge, as the items will be used up in a short time.


I definatley think Edun clothes are an investment - i bought a pair of Edun Jeans from America 2 years ago, i wear them every weekend and they dont look like they aged much at all (not like Lee jeans!).
I just wish that more stores in Australia would sell Edun - we have one in Sydney, and it is quite hard to get to. I always get compliments on my jeans and t -shirts!
 
there is not a line on her face in that pic of Ali, I think that picture has been airbrushed.[/QUOTE]

It's definitely been airbrushed she has rather a few lines on her face and around her eyes - the unedited version of that pic would have looked totally different. I love the arty quality to the pic though!
 
The photo does look airbrushed. But if they airbrushed it, they needn't have - she looks great without it. I like everything Ali stands for. It would be pretty cool if she could be the Irish president some day - she could definitely carry it off!

Sorry but she has a few lines there. And as for her being Irish president - umm don't you need experience in politics first like being a minister or something. Being the wife of a rocker who campaigns doesn't really qualify. Shes a great role model and all that, and she could well be a good president ... but that article is exaggerating her experience and capabilities.
 
I can understand why a lot of people think Nude cosmetics are too expensive. Of course I wouldn't be able to buy them on a regular basis. But I don't think that's true for the clothes, because if they are really good quality I'm ready to pay more money for them. It's an investment and they keep their good quality for years. Usually, when you buy cheap clothes the stuff looks bad after some washes, the texture is weak and cheap and they are poorly manufactured. After a few months you can basically throw much of the stuff away. You can buy a bulk of cheap t-shirts, but half of them will be impossible to wear within a few months. I guess seeing it this way puts the prices into perspective.
 
We have a saying here in Finland, "The poor can't afford to cheaply" which basically backs up what Last Unicorn said about cheap clothing. And even though the same may not necessairly be so for skin care products, but my point was that Ali's Nude is no more expensive, at least comparing them to the average prices of skin care products in Finland, than any of the high end products from Channel, Christian Dior and Juvena etc.
 
We have a saying here in Finland, "The poor can't afford to cheaply" which basically backs up what Last Unicorn said about cheap clothing. And even though the same may not necessairly be so for skin care products, but my point was that Ali's Nude is no more expensive, at least comparing them to the average prices of skin care products in Finland, than any of the high end products from Channel, Christian Dior and Juvena etc.

That was one of my points, really. I understand that a small company that uses organic materials and practices fair trade policies will necessarily have higher prices. I do think that Nude and Edun could be priced lower and still have a reasonable profit. Perhaps I have chosen the wrong words and portrayed Ali as elitist, which I did not really mean to do. I do think that both Nude and Edun target a high income clientele that would ordinarily purchase from some of the companies you mentioned--Chanel, Christian Dior and so forth.

I also didn't mean to come across as a whiny American who thinks that we have the highest cost of living in the entire world, because I know that isn't true. I've discovered how expensive things are in Europe. It's even worse for us American tourists because our dollar is practically worthless! Unfortunately Ireland is one of the most expensive countries that I personally have been to. When I was there last fall I just tried not to think about how much everything was costing me. Too painful. :slant:
 
Sorry but she has a few lines there. And as for her being Irish president - umm don't you need experience in politics first like being a minister or something. Being the wife of a rocker who campaigns doesn't really qualify. Shes a great role model and all that, and she could well be a good president ... but that article is exaggerating her experience and capabilities.

Ahh, but she is still stunning even with the few lines. The reason I think she would make a good president is actually because she has not been a minister or anything like that. I don't know how Ireland's political system works, but it seems to me that Ali would be a "people's president" - someone who represents the average Irish person more than a typical minister-turned-president would. I don't know, that's just my opinion. As for the products being expensive, I think, as Rosebud mentioned, she wanted to show that it was possible to run a business in a profitable but ethical way - that she wanted to set an example. I think it's probably easier to do this when you have an elite line - a lot of the more moderately priced clothes/skincare seem to be based off more expensive versions. Also, I guess you might expect products that have been produced in an ethical and environmentally friendly way to cost more than products that are produced in a way that is totally profit-focused. As long as the products are of high quality, in my opinion, it's fine that they're on the expensive side, even though I probably wouldn't be able to buy them on a regular basis either!
 
Nude is really interesting from a marketing & PR point of view.

If you read the description of the product they say that there are all sorts of exotic ingredients in there - buriti oil and argan extract etc. it makes the product sound really different.

But when you go to look at what predominant ingredients are in the products you see that very generic and cheap ingredients make up most of the products base like vanilla oil and jojoba oil and apricot and wheatgerm oil. The exotic ingredients make up a small part of the product. The Body Shop and other organic skin care brands have products that have very very similar ingredients at a fraction of the price. So, I don't know why there has to be a big charge before the brand has had a chance to really build up a reputation.

Quite possibly there is a big charge in products to cover the PR companies/people who work for Edun. There always seems to be something promoting Edun (hence the article on how Ali is supposedly a good President candidate); this is very good PR bluff to make Edun/Nude sound more interesting and credible than it is.

Nude (and Edun) for that matter are charging a similar price for high end brands like Estee Lauder and Ralph Lauren. But I doubt that when Estee Lauder started up they charged an arm and a leg for the products. You need to build up brand awareness and then slowly as the brands gets more popular and more prestigious then the prices can creep up.
 
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