At last, we can look sexy with a clear conscience
From The Irish Independent
BONO may be God, but Ali Hewson is God's gift to the planet. And God's gift to women, as well. I for one have taken down my Johnny Depp poster and replaced it with a picture of our unofficial First Lady.
I am not a lesbian (sorry, Nell) so maybe I had better explain this turn of events.
I am a decent-ish individual. I like to think I am, anyway. I put the lid back on the toothpaste and if I come to your house you can expect me not to leave piles of rubbish everywhere, for you to clean up after me. Similarly, I like to think that the planet I leave behind won't be totally traumatised by my having lived on it. I am not Duncan Stewart (as far as I know), but I do try to be eco-aware. Eco-friendly. The thing is, it's not easy.
Many of the problems that our environment faces are too grave and too huge for one person to solve. Global warming, climate change, water pollution, waste mountains, the disappearance of rain forests and the extinction of animals and birds: the list of horrors is endless.
It is possible to feel totally helpless, hopeless and overwhelmed in the face of all the imminent catastrophes and to just say to hell with it; to practice avoidance in the knowledge that even if the planet does only have 50 years left, we will all be old by then and we won't care. Our kids can deal with it. It is an understandable attitude, especially when you have more pressing concerns, such as what am I going to wear tonight.
In spite of the difficulties involved, I have made Herculean efforts to date, in my own efforts to save the planet.
In the morning, when I wake up, it is with organic toothpaste that I brush my teeth and likewise, it is with organic shampoos, conditioners, body lotions, deodorants, etc that I beautify my person for the cameras. Even my lipstick is organic, and as I swan about the place like an Eco-Nigella, it is with organic veggies that I prepare the soup and with environment-safe cleaning products that I perform the housework.
There is a stumbling block, however. I may be heroic, but like Achilles, I have a heel. Fashion is my downfall. Having been raised by hippies who wore only hemp, I am utterly repulsed by the prospect of having to wear ugly garments, even if this does mean I am killing the planet. Call it mindless vanity, call it whatever you like, I can't bear to wear clothes that I don't like.
I think that most women - unless they are total Earth Mother-types who knit their own yoga mats - will get where I'm coming from. Looking our best, for women, is a matter of life and death because that's how we are programmed. We need to mate in order to perpetuate the species and in order to mate, we must attract men. We must make ourselves look nice. Okay, there is a certain kind
of man who partners upwith girls in scratchy pants, but I bet even Zak Goldsmith hankers after sexy (nylon)lingerie.
Enter Ali Hewson, who is about to launch a range of wearable eco-friendly fashions, under her own label called Edin. Fashion is a fickle and unforgiving environment. Because most of us want labels that tell other women that we (a) have cash to burn and (b) we are the coolest thing on the street.
If we don't have cash to burn, we tend to go shopping every week and buy loads of trashy but high fashion items that will be out of date next weekend. This means that they have to be cheap, and in order to be really cheap, the person who made them has to be paid a pittance, in a country that doesn't bother about working conditions.
For Ali to produce clothes that say 'I am stylish' at a price we can afford is going to be one hell of a challenge.
When I first met Ali, back in the Eighties, she was a sweet-looking girl, with a beautiful face, but she wasn't what you would call stylish. In the Nineties, alongside Bono's mates Christy, Naomi and Kate, she looked like the girl next door, in clumpy shoes and long skirts that did nothing for her figure. Butrecently, something dramatic has happened to her. I don't know what it was, but now,in her 40s, she looks like a total babe. She's glossy and tanned and yoga-honed and she's 'youngified' by about 15 years.
As a glamorous role model for women, Ali is now seriously sexy and sassy. And can now easily compete with the likes of Christy, Naomiand Kate. So if she is wearing Edin, I suspect a lot of women will be wearing Edin too. Because Ali is cool, other designers will follow her lead, which means that in no time she could make it the hippest thing on the planet to be an eco-babe.
Because we consumers currently spend billions and billions on clothes, worldwide, a trend for organically-produced, fairly-traded clothing could have an enormous positive impact on the working lives of millions of people in developing economies, and also on the environment. This could be the most important thing that happens in the environmental movement, the thing that makes it truly take hold. Which is why I now have to take off my (fashion victim) hat to Ali Hewson.
Victoria Mary Clarke