Blog 1- Well being Lecture
I had the opportunity to attend the well-being lecture held by the doctor Jaketerina Rogation during the Better Lives program. It asked us several questions about well being and the fashion industry. Well being and fashion doesn’t seem to be connected but Dr. Rogation showed us otherwise. In our society, fashion is strongly linked with people. It’s a materialistic need to possess a great deal of clothes.
It’s a key factor for being happy in our society, or so we’re told.
It showed me a different way to look at the fashion industry and the people that are a part of it. The fashion industry is an industry but its also an art form, it’s complicated to combine economics and feelings together, this lecture offered me a different perspective.
There is multiple factors to well-being: physical, subjective, social, psychological,economic and in a specific domain. We discussed two theories: Hedonic well-being (subjective) and Eudaemonic well-being (psychological).
Well-being is a growing market that is estimated to be worth $4.2trillion. Fashion is an important tool for well-being: it gives confidence (« Looking good, Feeling good » ) and allows you to create yourself everyday. It’s one of the most powerful and direct tools to show our identity to the world.
Hedonic well-being in the fashion industry consist of over consuming and trying to feel the same level of happiness at every buy (the rush of possessing something new). The fast fashion industry benefits from this to create constant attraction to their products and giving the appeal to their consumers. Creating different collections and launching multiples sales, making the most profit.
Buying is an under-estimated power that most of consumers don’t realize they have. Buying is ‘voting with your wallet’. We pay tremendous amount of money to feel happy and to possess a multitude of things that don’t last. Today, we have so many options to get what we want (small online business to big worldwide online shops), consumers can get anxiety from having so much choice (produce paralyses). It can easily become unhealthy to always look for more.
Eudaemonic well-being is about self-actualization, it’s about wanting more than just a rush and having something more stable and healthy. Consumers seek for fulfillment and meaningful experiences that help personal growth. Psychological well-being is about personal growth, search of purpose in life, environment , autonomy , positive relations and self acceptance. It’s about living a meaningful and happy life and looking for a balance.
Well-being and the fashion industry is about the mental impact it leaves.
Dressing up and finding pieces that truly reflect who you are and how you want to portray yourself gives confidence, self actualization, personal growth and happiness.
This reflects a need for slow fashion. Slow fashion is about a socially and ecologically responsible change in the industry that is putting long lasting ,well made and unique pieces to their priorities. It impacts the well-being of the consumer, the product ,the manufacturer and the industry in itself.
This lecture enlightened me on the importance of sustainable fashion in the industry. It is the first step toward a better fashion industry, from people within the industry (manufacturers,workers,designers) and consumers too.
References: Dr.Rogation,J and Dr.Khadaroo,A (2020) ‘Fashion and well-being’ (Lecture). Better Lives, London College of Fashion, 19 February.