The Business of Fashion is a next generation fashion media company and the authoritative voice of the global fashion, beauty and luxury industries, founded by Imran Amed. Imran had a life long interest in the fashion industry despite no professional experience and began a blog in 2007 about fashion business.
The luxury fashion industry is worth approximately 339.4 billion dollars however the market grew by just one percent in 2015 as the average consumer is favoring purchasing experiences over material goods seeing a massive consumer shift. People are seen to now present an idea of status through showing how they look after them selves with the rise of health and wellness trends rather then prioritising luxury goods. The luxury fashion industry is using the growth in the health and wellness industry to transform material goods. The French multinational corporation and conglomerate LVMH has signed a deal for a majority stake in Italian bicycle maker Pinarello showing fashions involvement with health and wellness.
The health and wellness industry is expected to reach 833 billion dollars by 2021 according to data from Euromonitor. This shows a seventeen percent growth over the last five years. The consumer shift is opening up commercial opportunities due to the growing athleisure wear sector for example brands such as Oh Pollys Bo and Tee, Victoria Secret sport, Wear Tala etc to beauty supplements becoming the everyday norm. The shift to the health and wellness industry could be due to the growing awareness of the importance of healthy life styles.
The popularity of purchasing experiences over material items is not only seen to be benefiting physical health but mental health aswell. The article by Limei Hoang (2016) raises thoughts on how ‘Feeling good is the new looking good’. How by looking after your mental and physical health the better you are going to feel and therefore the better you are going to look. ‘There is a big opportunity’ discusses the founder of ‘mindbodygreen’ Jacob Wachob. 'Mindbodygreen’ is a media platform focusing on the fundamentals of science-based holistic well-being. The article is packed full of experts advice who spoke out at BoF’s annual VOICES.
The growth of health and wellness could be due to the everyday stresses and fast paced life of society today. Those working within the fashion industry may struggle with mental health problems due to the intense cycle of collections and deadlines each year with most fast fashion brands producing around 52 collections each year to keep up with growing consumer demand- that’s a collection a week. Imran discusses these issues when he mentions ‘the stress of life in the digital age’.
Over all this article raised awareness about the importance of health and wellness experiences such as beauty tools, work out equipment, athleisure wear, vitamin supplements etc. The luxury industry is seen to be developing to keep up with these consumer shifts and realised the importance of feeling good over looking good but also sees great commercial benefits from the health and wellness industry as seen through brand collaborations.
I chose this source as it links to themes of Textiles and Society as it high lights the growing changes in society and the importance of health and wellness.