For decades, fashion’s glittering facade hid an open secret: the industry’s relentless pace and perfectionism were quietly crushing its creators. Today, a mental health revolution is unfolding on runways and in design studios alike, driven by survivors-turned-advocates and corporate leaders alike. Here’s how fashion is stitching wellness into its very fabric.
Jude Kingston’s Mind Your Fashion: Turning Pain into Policy
When Jude Kingston faced suicidal thoughts in 2016 after years battling industry pressures, she didn’t just recover—she built a lifeline for others. Her organization Mind Your Fashion now challenges designers and brands to treat mental wellness as professional standard rather than luxury perk. “A sustainable career starts with a sustainable mindset,” Kingston tells Fashion Mingle, embodying the raw honesty of someone who’s walked the walk through depression and anxiety.
Rare Beauty’s $100 Million Mission
Selena Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund just put $20 million into mental health services worldwide through direct grants to organizations across five continents. Their May 1 summit in Los Angeles brings together 175 industry leaders and advocates, featuring British life coach Jay Shetty. “It’s about making self-acceptance as trendy as contouring,” explains Rare Impact Fund President Elyse Cohen, hinting at their $100 million fundraising target.
The White Rainbow Project: Stitch by Healing Stitch
Baylor alum Rachel Iacoboni’s work with Indian widows proves fashion can be literal salvation. By teaching marginalized women in Vrindavan to create sellable clothing and jewelry, this nonprofit fights social stigma through economic empowerment. Iacoboni’s COVID-delayed India pilgrimage became a study in resilience, eventually evolving into full-time advocacy merging design skills with trauma recovery.
Instagram Activists Like Geo Kapitan Build Community
New York-based creator Geo Kapitan represents fashion’s grassroots mental health movement, using social media challenges to normalize conversations about anxiety and self-care. Their Instagram reels blend workout routines with vulnerability—a microcosm of how younger professionals demand work-life balance in creative fields.
The Industry’s Burnout Reckoning
With 82% of fashion workers reporting burnout according to 2025 wellness trends data, companies are finally acting. Forward-thinking brands now offer “stress audits,” mental health days, and realistic workload expectations. The solution might be simpler than we think: treating designers and stylists as humans first, creatives second.
Why This Matters Now
The same industry that once glorified “the grind” now faces a talent exodus unless it evolves. As athleisure dominates clothing trends and rental platforms reduce environmental stress, mental well-being emerges as fashion’s next frontier of responsible innovation. For workers juggling deadlines and self-doubt, these changes can’t come soon enough.
References:
- https://fashionmingle.com/jude-kingstons-fight-for-mental-health-in-fashion/
- https://meetglimpse.com/trends/fashion-apparel-trends/
- https://theimpression.com/selena-gomezs-rare-beauty-expands-mental-health-efforts-with-2025-summit/
- https://blog.nisbenefits.com/2025-wellness-trends
- https://www.women.com/1837805/summer-2025-fashion-trends-perfect-older-women-outdated/
- https://robbins.baylor.edu/news/story/2025/white-rainbow-project-merging-fashion-and-social-impact
- https://www.montana.edu/usp/research_celebration/2025%20SRC%20Program%20Updated.pdf
- https://www.instagram.com/giorgikapitan/reel/DIzkeZbxx4P/
