Fashion and Your Mental Health

Is the fashion industry aware of its detrimental effects on our mental well-being?

Unfortunately, it appears that its focus is solely on profit rather than its impact on individuals. It's important to note that the fashion industry is now the second-largest polluter globally, following only the oil industry. The industry has a reputation for contributing to poor mental health, but there is potential for more holistic and achievable goals.

Fashion can impact mental health positively and negatively. We should address the negative impacts to turn them into positive ones. It's a known fact that our clothing choices speak volumes about our identity and values. What we wear can affect our mood and how others perceive us. This phenomenon is known as "enclothed cognition," which suggests that our clothes and those others wear can alter our thought patterns.

We all want to feel good about ourselves, but at what cost to our mental health? How much of our thoughts do we give to the fashion industry's pressure to conform to specific trends and societal beauty standards pushed on us through social media? This can lead to harmful cycles of comparison, self-criticism, and spending money on products and services that don't improve our mental well-being. The obsession with unreachable beauty standards and photo editing practices has led to an increase in disorders like body dysmorphia, anorexia, and bulimia. Some countries, such as France, have taken a proactive step by banning unhealthy, thin models and photoshopped images, and hopefully, this will catch on.

Learning to embrace imperfection makes us all unique and different. It keeps humans interesting. Detoxing your social media feed and unfollowing triggering accounts is an excellent start to developing a healthy relationship with networking in the fashion world. Practising body gratitude and kindness to our unique and beautiful selves is crucial. This may mean reducing social media intake, fashion marketing intake, consumption of clothes, makeup, criticism, or whatever it may be. Celebrating some aspect of ourselves that has nothing to do with our appearance, having compassion for ourselves, and trying not to compare will all help strengthen our relationship with ourselves without the mental pressure that fashion standards set for us. Observing our thoughts, feelings, and relationship with fashion and reflecting on this process will create a positive change within us.

Watch out for the beautiful brands that lead with empathy and productivity; these are the game changers. We have some proactive brands encouraging positive mental health through positive initiatives demonstrated in the industry, such as the collaboration of Farfetch and Unmind in 2020, which promotes well-being. The farfetched positive mission is to become the global platform for good in luxury fashion; you have to love their initiative, their "Giveback Days" - two paid volunteering days per year where Farfetchers can support a social cause of their choice. Farfetchers can switch their Giveback Days for Caring Days, taking some time to look after themselves, their loved ones or their community. 

Kate Spade is another example of a brand that began a relationship with mental health awareness programs following the founder's suicide due to depression and anxiety. Her company donated 1 million to support suicide prevention and mental health organizations.

The fashion industry's inhumane working conditions can lead to poor mental health, affecting productivity. Promoting well-being and mental health in the industry can generate positive outcomes for stakeholders and the business. Fair wages, as The Fawcett Society highlights, are the first step towards better mental health. Maslow's theory suggests that we fulfil our needs in a hierarchical order, beginning with the most basic physiological needs of food, water, warmth, rest, security, and shelter, all of which come with expected minimum salary standards.

The human cost behind clothing has been brushed under the carpet, but legislation is the only way to fix this. The volunteer approach does not work because buyers constantly press factory workers, meaning garment workers practically work for nothing. 

Positive changes are possible in the garment industry's supply chain, benefiting workers and unions. Professionalism, transparency, sustainability, and AI can all contribute to improving working conditions and mental health. Sustainable fashion creates a positive social impact and an opportunity for people in developing nations to access economic tools, decent working environments, fair pay, and opportunities to educate their children.