Over the past few years the wellness movement has been on the radar of every designer, marketer, retailer and to be honest, every consumer. And this is because trend movements such as wellness are intrinsically linked with consumer lifestyles and priorities – being out of touch with how these are evolving can lead to brand irrelevancy and lost investments.

US lifestyle blogger Balanced Blonde published a post earlier this year titled Wellness Blogging vs. Being Obsessed with Health. In the post she discussed her transition from her days as The Blonde Vegan and her admission to suffering from orthorexia, to how she finds balance today.

The shift in attitude towards the word ‘wellness’ can’t be ignored, wellness has evolved and has led to the rise of anti-wellness and the #healthism movement. This is about a more inclusive approach to wellness focusing on self-acceptance to create a balance between health and fun.

Bevin Branlandingham is an artist, community leader and aerobics instructor who runs the Queer Fat Femme website, and holds a weekly aerobics class called Fat Kid Dance Party in LA, where participants can dance with no rules, buying into  the message ‘all bodies are good bodies’.

An Honest Future

We’re at a crossroads, there’s a divergence in how the wellness trend is evolving, so which road will people be taking? As signifiers of wealth, shift from the material (money and possessions) to the personal (health, knowledge, experiences), the wellness movement will be increasingly influenced by the breaking down of social taboos around body image and mental health.

And this can already be seen in markets where wellness has had a massive impact: currently being held in Sydney, Australia, The Big Anxiety is a festival with experiential events and exhibitions to reimagine the state of mental health in the 21st century. The festival represents a creative, but relevant way of dealing with an issue that is crucial to what wellness actually means for lifestyles in the future.

Source: wgsn.com