The confluence of fashion and wellness will be explored during the first-ever Wellness Meets Fashion show, which will take place at the Global Wellness Summit’s (GWS) gala event on 7 October, 2018 in Cesena, Italy.

The wellness fashion runway is a collaboration between BuDhaGirl, a fashion/lifestyle brand focusing on mindful glamour; photographer Louie Schwartzberg’s Moving Art; athleisure brand La Forma; and the Summit’s creative team.

“2018 started out with a bang for the partnership of wellness and fashion,” said GWS chief creative officer and executive director Nancy Davis, citing the January cover of American Vogue, which featured Lupita Nyong’o performing yoga on a stand-up paddle, and the word wellness emblazoned in large print across the cover.

The new intersections between fashion and wellness were already being discussed by wellness industry leaders. During Dr. Andrew Weil’s keynote at the 2017 Summit, Weil touted fashion as one of the most powerful drivers of human behavior—encouraging the audience to “make wellness fashionable".

“Fashion holds a unique place in our culture — and has the power to motivate and inspire change,” said Jessica Jesse, founder of BuDhaGirl. “Add to that the fact that society as a whole is waking up to the idea that absolutely everything we do affects our health and wellness, and the impact fashion can have on our lives starts to crystallize.

"At an extremely basic level, that means everything we wear — and how we wear it — can affect not only our physical wellbeing but also our mental wellness.”

Davis said the goal is to “create an experience that underscores how important and integral each industry is to the other – in an inspiring, creative way that is sure to delight GWS delegates. Combining Jessica Jesse’s creative talents with the extraordinary imagery of Louie Schwartzberg, and then putting those designs into the hands of the team at La Forma, will create a truly unique and breathtaking visual and emotional experience for our delegates".

Davis also said the Wellness Meets Fashion show will provide an opportunity to celebrate Italy’s cultural significance in both industries.

Schwartzberg said he’s thrilled to be part of the creative collaboration.

“Fashion has the power to shift cultures and mindsets in monumental ways,” he explained. “Melding a wellness ethos into clothing can only serve to inspire and empower the wearer to live a more mindful life.”