This piece was written before the crisis of Covid-19 by guest contributor Koura-Rosy Kane, writer of PLATFORM, a blog focused on emerging fashion. We chose to publish the original version of the article, as it felt foretelling of a Fashion Industry focused on caring for others, as we have seen many brands and individuals come together in the past few weeks during the coronovirus crisis.

Prior to the pandemic, we were facing many issues in terms of the stress inducing rhythm of this industry on its people and the planet, clearly pointing to the necessity for reforming our fashion system. The importance of supporting communities suggested in the piece appears even more relevant today and has in fact unfolded, since experiencing physical distancing and quarantine, further activating the urgency for collective Emotional Intelligence. Our need for fashion as a therapy has been amplified more than ever as one of the only options to make fashion meaningful again.

Using fashion as a medium to discuss mental health is not a new phenomenon. At the beginning of 2000, Alexander McQueen, tied between addictions, mental disorders and anxiety, used his shows to translate his inner thoughts to the world. His suicide at the end of this decade rattled the industry. This dramatic event shed light on the necessity to talk about mental health in the field. However, we would need to wait until the mid-2010 to deeply tackle this issue and bring it to the mainstream.

Fashion as a form of therapy is appearing more than relevant in our current decade while we face deep upheaval. The environment and society have been undergoing a deep transformation.

We are entering this next decade with a heavy uncertainty well described in the last report by BoF and McKinsey entitled The State of Fashion 2020: Navigating Uncertainty Throughout this report, multiple causes are given to explain the actual situation. From uncertainties caused by the Brexit to protests in Hong-Kong, the world’s order is truly being questioned. Social actors are painfully trying to evolve in such a context of confusion, doubtfulness and unpredictability.

In a fact sheet published in 2019, the World Health Organisation underlined that the most common mental disorders in Europe are Depression (with 44.3 million people) and Anxiety (with 37.3 million people). Thus, topics such as mental health and self-care are increasingly being investigated to overcome those troubled times and individuals are not ashamed to publicly expose their insecurities, especially on social media. The #mentalhealth hashtag on Instagram has been used on 14.7 million posts while the #selfcare hashtag has been used on 22.7 million posts. Overall, data from The Global Wellness Institute underlines that this field grew by 6.5 percent annually between 2015 and 2017.

Moreover, as mentioned by the same institute, this industry represents 5.3 percent of the global economy output. Individuals are trying to overcome this feeling by using every tool they have to survive. Therefore, activities such as meditation have dramatically increased in popularity in the past few years. In a US survey, The Good Beauty revealed that since 2012, the number of people meditating has tripled. It is believed that globally, in 2019, between 200 and 500 million people meditate. Following the same trend, mobile applications focused on meditation such as Headspace have been download under 40 million times in 2019. Its competitor Calm amassed almost 11 million downloads in 2018, on IOS alone.

Fashion as a mirror of society - created and manipulated by the latter – doesn’t escape from this social interest. Although the public is keen to listen to the vision of brands on the matter, the way labels are going to approach this topic is going to be carefully judged by the audience.

Therefore when Gucci used the visual toolbox of psychiatric institutions for its SS20 show, even the model Ayesha Tan Jones casted for this event chose to stand against the brand with a powerful message wrote on her hands ‘Mental Health Is Not Fashion’. In a post on social media she explains that “As an artist and model who has experienced my own struggles with mental health, as well as family members and loved ones who have been affected by depression, anxiety, bipolar and schizophrenia, it is hurtful and insensitive for a major fashion house such as Gucci to use this imagery as a concept for a fleeting fashion moment.”

While we could easily agree with Jones’ statement, some fashion labels are genuinely reliable when it comes to discussing mental health and are able to show how to use fashion as a form of therapy. The Amsterdam-based designer duo Schueller de Waal ihas been exploring since day one this dialectic. SDW - which also means Seeking Design Wellbeing - gives a double meaning to Fashion Therapy:

“On the one hand we see Fashion Therapy as a method to tackle the problems in the fashion system, on the other hand we see fashion as a form of therapy.” 

The goal for them is to re-interpret the idea of fashion therapy that has been mainly used for commercial priorities. “People buy fashion to feel happy. The endorphins that are released can even be addictive. Stimulating buying with the sole purpose of increasing profit. A vicious circle that you seem to be unable to escape. In our view, this is a strange sensation because the power that fashion can have could be targeted towards much more positive purposes. We want to investigate these different aspects of Fashion Therapy.”

Their investigation led them to create their own Wellness Centre at the Palais de Tokyo for their SS19 collection. Instead of showing a new collection, they used the space to offer massages and hypnotherapy to an under-pressure audience because of the hectic pace of Fashion month. Philipp Schueller and Rens de Waal are very committed and each season is for them a way to verbalise their ideology. In July 2019 they went further by turning their show during Couture Week into a massive clean up also in the name of Fashion Therapy. With Schueller De Waal, fashion can be clearly more than garments and consumption, it can embody long-term health.

Fast fashion is the illustration of the flaws in the industry and represents the unhealthy part of the market. Besides having a tangible environmental impact – by being the second most polluting industry in the world - the fashion industry has driven individuals crazy with the need of constant consumption and an endless influx of the wrong kind of trends, ones focused on fast consumption and not conscious long-term thinking. The UN Climate Change Report published in October 2018 underlined that 12 years is the time we have left to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C. In case it surpasses that level, we will face extreme climate conditions. According to the 2019 Global Wellness Trend Report there is a deep mind-set shift occurring into the industry. While various surveys highlight the increasing need for sustainability decisions in individuals’ consumption, we can look at social media trends to see the shift. In 2019, on Pinterest, “Sustainable fashion” was at the top of the research words on the platform.

“We’re moving from the age of conspicuous consumption to an age of conspicuous “conshumanism”, where people display their humane rather than monetary, worth through choices they make as consumers”. - Global Wellness Trend report

More than environmental and social impacts, society is progressively realising that fast-fashion has harmful consequences on health. Man-made fabrics such as polyester or nylon are petroleum-based. When they can take centuries to decompose, they also have dramatic aftermaths on humans’ well being.

Therefore, besides protecting the planet, a new generation of sustainable materials are focusing on natural fibres – that are good for the health of people and the planet. From Algae to Mushrooms, those fabrics are aimed to redefine and improve the entire system. “A small army of companies is crafting clothing from zero-waste, hyper-renewable algae. Israel-based Algalife turns algae into fibres and dyes and the fabrics are also designed to improve and protect skin proteins, vitamins and anti-inflammatories are naturally released by algae-immersed fabric” (2019 Global Wellness Trends Report).

While Piñatex creates fibres from pineapple, Bananatex is focusing on banana leafs to produce the first waterproof and durable fabric of its kind. Grown in the Philippines, banana leafs are from a pure ecosystem that doesn’t require any chemical treatments. More than garments, the company is exploring ways to make the design field sustainable. Made in collaboration with the Studio PALAIUS, their MAE Chair combines modern minimalism with natural materials.

Juxtaposed to those natural fabrics, some actors within the industry are trying very hard to bring intelligence to garments through Bio technology and lab grown materials.  Thus, an entire era of clothing with healing properties is rising as illustrated in the work done by the London-based designer Rosie Broadhead. Rosie is “focusing on the possibilities of clothing that provide health benefits to the body with less impact on the environment. I develop probiotic clothing by encapsulating bacteria into the fabric to improve the skin microbiome and health of the skin.” Her probiotic clothes from her Skin II collection have multiple benefits such as “reducing body odour, encouraging cell renewal, and improving the skin's immune system”.

The young designer also mentioned “other areas of the fashion industry are also developing fabrics with healing attributes. German fibre manufacture Smartfibre incorporates seaweed into cellulose fibres to create therapeutic fabrics for clothing. The minerals and active substances occurring naturally in the seaweed leak into the skin over time, helping to create a fabric with anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties.” In a new enlightened aged where fashion is more associated with science than ever, the possibilities seem infinite.

Discussing mental health and developing healthier materials are certainly relevant ways to transform fashion into a form of therapy, however they are not the only ones. Therapy through clothes can take a more personal form. Pressures are coming from various spheres of individuals’ lives and tend to overwhelm them.

In fact, we have come to the point where even social media platforms such as Instagram are re-thinking their system by deleting the visibility of ‘likes’ to avoid the burden and the stress produced by scoring methods. The word ‘crisis’ is everywhere and also concerns individual identity. From inclusivity to authenticity, fashion labels have to listen to social claims that come from different sub-cultures in the quest for clothing that will express fully their personalities. As mentioned above, the act of buying is gradually shifting to become more about ‘conspicuous conshumanism’. Hence, consumers will use clothes to model deeper values and beliefs.

The rising interest of gender-neutral is a significant example of this tendency. Since 2018, the notion of “genderless” clothing has overflowed the fashion industry. Stepping out of the traditional mind-set, trans-gender and non-binary communities are creating their own terms and systems after being largely rejected and excluded by industries such as fashion. Irritated by the social stereotypes generated by gender, they are going above the established order to build a strong sense of belonging. Along with them, designers are introducing gender-fluid collections that fit this consumers’ ideology.

London-based designer Mowalola Ogunlesi is exploring this notion and symbolises the aspirations of an entire generation: “I am focusing on building a brand that will challenge people’s minds. I feel that everyone’s on the gender spectrum, so the more we can break it down and get back to individual wants and desires, the more we can push society forward.” Added to gender fluidity, Mowalola is seeking to show to the fashion industry her own interpretation of African identities. Overall, this self-acceptance therapy through clothes is challenging the traditional system where demonstration of wealth was the main concern.

For fashion labels, being part of a more beneficial circle is appearing as essential. As the Dutch designer duo - Schueller de Waal  - underlines, "Seeking Design Wellbeing is about creating our own systems and rules that contribute positively to the quality of our own design and life and to that of others and the world around us.”  

Understanding how to cleverly integrate clothing in this entire emeeging system will be key for the upcoming years. Beyond promoting and supporting mental health or body positivity, fashion has to be human and live as it is. In the future, the Fashion industry will need a structural transformation that puts Emotional Intelligence front and centre. Although this notion is certainly not new, its pertinence will increasingly grow in the future and be key not only in the way the consumer engages with the brand, but in how a brand treats its staff and suppliers.

Introduced by Joel Robert Davitz in 1964, the term EQ refers to the ability to perceive your own emotions and those of others. Many calculation models have been proposed throughout the years. One common point they have is the Empathy factor. Emotional Intelligence might be the most human feature that will help brands communicate with their customers. Overall, the big change in the industry will rest on the capacity to follow social awareness mechanisms.

A deep change is happening in the definition of “being rich”. This notion is taking another sense to become more related to love and emotions.

Prioritizing mental health over wealth makes more sense and is meant to last, along with the individuals’ quest of inner peace. The growing interest given to economic alliances such as the Well Being Economy is a pertinent way to show the socio-economic shift. A few years back, this kind of organisation would not have found an audience to hear their message. Today, the Well Being Economy - aims to change the economic system to build a model based on values of humanism – is gathering a strong community ready to follow this ideology. Countries such as Iceland, Scotland and New Zealand are part of this organisation.

The Love Quotient, a term recently defined by Chris Wise could provide a framework and have a real impact on our social structures in the next few years. Being kind and loving doesn’t have to be only for relatives. Humanity has to rely on love to evolve - as it is “the energy from which life arises”. In such a context, between love and wellbeing, fashion will have to find its own voice to connect to its audience.

| By Koura Rosy-Kane

Fashion creative focused on emerging designers, writer and trend-researcher. IG: @platform___