The Runway Has Entered Its Wellness Era
Cast your mind back to 10 years ago. The word 'wellness' was something you'd hear whispered among celery juice enthusiasts. You almost certainly didn't know about skin biohacking or hay bathing, and considered self-care to be sitting down with a cup of tea rather than bracing oneself for a cryotherapy chamber.
Fast forward to today and wellness is an omnipresent and all-encompassing term. The billion dollar market is now worth over $223 billion (around £168 billion), according to Statista, and is bandied around the office as much as it is in the world of skincare (the intersection between skincare and wellness is well documented). It has, for better or worse, seeped into every aspect of our daily lives, and now it seems even the runway is taking note.
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Once a fashion scene more familiar with after parties and post-show hedonism, this season's London Fashion Week told a different story, with designers leaning into the world's fascination with wellness in novel ways and brands embracing a more holistic approach to backstage beauty.
Whether it was using facial tools, 'multi-masking' and lymphatic drainage backstage or bringing age-old wellness trends to the runway itself, it seems high fashion and holistic wellness might, too, be converging.
For Jenn Lee's SS25 presentation, acupuncture formed an integral part of the storyline. The brand noted that as wellness becomes a firm fixture in the quotidien, the collection was a visible portrayal of what was dubbed as 'A Wellness-Driven Future For Fashion'. Lee worked with Qiaosi Yan, a Taiwanese-born cosmetic acupuncture brand, and saw models embracing the shoulder-slackening rewards of the TCM ritual, with acupuncture needles pinned to their faces backstage. As for the health benefits of acupuncture, a
growing body of research points to its ability to helps reduce pain, aid stress management and improve overall wellbeing.
Acupressure was also of prime importance for the models backstage at Tove. A far cry away from the pressured, frenetic scenes of seasons gone by, models were treated to moments of mindfulness and calm, with facialists applying acupressure (targeting pressure points to alleviate stress and calm the mind) and lymphatic drainage techniques. 'We used acupressure behind the ears on the trapeze for the models,' Orveda's Education Manager, Agnieszka Szumlak, tells ELLE UK, whilst a model was in the midst of a serene mini facial massage backstage.
Though the aim of the game here is of course to lend skin a luminous glow on the runway, the skin-mind benefits are not to be ignored, either. ‘We are much more conscious of our wellness, mental health and our physical health,’ says Szumlak. 'Though the make-up and the hair are always going to be of supreme importance during Fashion Week, incorporating wellbeing is the next move and nods to what's happening in the beauty industry as a whole right now.'
Meanwhile, backstage at Erdem's SS25 unveiling, against the striking backdrop of the British Museum, 111sKIN took on an entirely novel approach to backstage beauty. For the first time, aestheticians performed a CRYO facial using a high-tech cryotherapy machine which helps increase microcirculation in the layers of the skin and aid puffiness. Helping to boost oxygen flow has immediate brightening and detoxifying benefits for the dermis (think a brighter, firming looking complexion) but cryotherapy is also touted for its wellness powers, helping to increase circulation, boost your mood and improve inflammation.
It's no coincidence, too, that Alo Yoga were the official sponsors of London Fashion Week this season, where the spearheading wellness brand offered IV drips and sound therapy, among other buzzy wellness trends, to stressed-out showgoers.
As we move into a realm where wellness really is King, it make sense that designers, who often portray the cultural zeitgeist through their collections, and beauty brands alike would add a sprinkle of health and wellbeing into the high fashion arena.
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