Ali Hewson is naturally curious. It’s what drives her. But it’s disconcerting trying to interview someone who wants to ask all the questions. As we sit in a hotel suite in New York, where Ali and business partner Bryan Meehan are presenting their revamped skincare line,
NUDE, she wants to ask all about me. “Oh you moved here to New York did you? Where do you live?” she asks, eyes alert and friendly behind heavy black spectacles, all in a dancing Dublin lilt. The thing is, we are in a hurry. Her husband is coming to pick her up.
That husband, of course, is Bono; the boy who made her laugh when she was twelve and the man with whom she celebrated her thirtieth wedding anniversary this August. His car is imminent, it’s the end of the day, but Ali is charm itself, fluent about the merits of her skincare line and why it has been updated.
“Well, if you are conscious of what you are eating and what you are wearing, you have got to be conscious of what you are putting on your skin every day,” she explains earnestly. “We wanted to make a natural skincare line and, although there were plenty of them around, none were active in anti-ageing or feeding your skin. We wanted to make skincare that was pro-active.”
Her inspiration came from omega oils and probiotics, healthy bacteria found naturally in the skin and the LVMH group was so impressed, it bought a 70% share of NUDE last year. “They were so excited about the formula and re-formulated it with us. So now, this is ‘super NUDE’,” Ali exclaims, proudly passing me bottles. The packaging has also been given an overhaul. “You want to have beautiful things in your bathroom. After all, it’s a luxury to live in a part of the world where you use skin creams.”
I can’t help but notice Ali’s skin is translucent and quite flawless, so much so, I worry she that she has succumbed to needle intervention until, to my relief, her forehead moves. Instead, I suspect she did a deal with a high SPF factor at an early age because, at 51, she looks a dozen years younger. She wears steep platform shoes and a black dress by House of Dagmar, a small Swedish brand. “I’m not wearing Edun, which is sad,” she sighs.
Inspiration for Edun, her fashion line, “came out of buying for my children and not wanting to buy clothes made by someone else’s children, made with despair.” As an early ethical label, Edun has been a roaring success and now shows at New York Fashion Week. Is Ali ever temped to design herself? “That is not something I have training for, although I do love to watch the process as much as possible.”
Does she have any style icons? “I like to look simple relaxed and uncomplicated. But you would die if you saw the state of my closet: most of my clothes are 20 years old and I hate shopping with a passion.” But she does adore clothes, often buying online. “I love Vivienne Westwood and the
way she hits the female form, though there is nothing uncomplicated, simple and relaxed about her clothes!” As for her enviable figure? “I try not to eat anything out of a packet. Fresh food seems to give more energy but, like most women, my weakness is chocolate.” What exercise does she do? “Mainly yoga. I don’t normally get the chance to do it with an instructor so I have a guide, a little piece of paper.” It’s rather sweet to imagine Ali in her hotel room in eagle pose scored from a cheat sheet.
Ali and Bono – or Paul Hewson – started going out long before U2 was conceived or became successful. Alison Stewart, as she was then, was born in Dublin in 1961 to a father who ran an electrical business and a stay-at-home mother, growing up alongside a younger brother who now lives in Australia. At school, she thought about becoming a pilot, nurse or vet. “I always knew I would see the world.” See it she has; and they are a close bunch, U2, which has been key to their success and stability as a band. “Nearly all our friends come from school, the whole band went to
secondary school together. I think maybe, as fame happened and the band became bigger, it was more important to hold onto friends who really liked you and really knew you.”
