Style
Bono's clothing line loses $16 million in two years
by Tyler Munro
August 19, 2013
You might be surprised to learn that Bono has his own clothing company and that, contrary to the obvious assumption, it doesn’t specialize in orange-tinted sunglasses.
Bono started Edun with his wife, Ali Hewson, in 2005 and their goal was simple: make clothes the ethical way. They wanted to properly compensate their workers and promote fair trade in developing countries, specifically in Africa. And by all accounts they’ve done that with one small caveat: they’re hemorrhaging money.
Citing figures from Ireland’s Companies Office, Contact Music is reporting that Edun posted losses of about $7.8 million last year. That’s in addition to the $8.5 million lost in 2011.
The brand has been a money pit since it started. A quick look online says that they lost more than $13 million in 2007 and fared worse the following year. The Irish power couple put about $20 million of their own money into the company in 2010, but obviously hasn’t seen the returns yet. It’s unlikely they will at this point. Still, you’ve got to admire their sticktuitiveness, ill-advised as it so obviously is.
They say the loses are in line with their five year plan and projections. Yikes.
