Fashion Therapy: Doctor Dawnn Karen on mental health in fashion, Dopamine Dressing and why she's no longer wearing leopard print
From fashion model to master of Freud, Doctor Dawnn Karen addresses both dresses and stresses as the world’s first Fashion Psychologist.
BY MADELEINE KILLICK
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| "In fashion we're not speaking about our feelings; we're dressing them," says Doctor Dawnn Karen. CREDIT: DAWNN KAREN |
Juggling between the catwalk and the chaise longue of the psychiatrist’s office, former model Doctor Dawnn Karen was studying Psychology at Colombia University when she began to treat trauma with trends of the sartorial kind. Upon graduating in 2012, Karen established the Fashion Psychology Field: a study and theory examining how clothes, colour, image and shape affects human behaviour.
Two year later, Karen made history when she was made the youngest, first black woman Psychology professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Since then, Karen, who is often dubbed the ‘Doctor of Dress’, has treated the worries and wardrobes of politicians and high-powered executives across the world.
Last year Karen published her first book Dress Your Best Self, which offers advice on how to dress your way to a happier, more confident self. Now, Karen devotes her time towards refashioning fashion’s relationship with mental health, as articulated in her address to the United Nations, as well as the TED Talk she presented in 2019 where she speaks candidly about power dressing her way out of depression.
Eager to educate others about her cause, we sat down with Karen to find out more about fashion psychology.
What is the Fashion Psychology Field?
The formal definition is the study and treatment of how style, colour, shape and beauty affects human behaviour while addressing cultural norms and cultural sensitivities. I discovered this field several years ago when I was attending university while also working in fashion. I was told by my professor that I lacked empathy. Yet in the fashion industry I saw empathy all around me. I was emoting tons through my fashion; it just didn’t appear that way to the lay person that has no concept of fashion expression. I began to think that in fashion we’re not speaking about feelings, we’re dressing them.
Why are designers more inclined to suffer from mental health problems?
The reason being is that they feel a lot; and, in order for you to create, you have to feel. Artists are very expressive and have high emotional intelligence, unlike a lay person who may only experience a few feelings: happiness, sadness, excitement and anger. They only know this dualism, whereas artists can take you through jubilee, excitement, calmness, chaos, confusion, depression and suicide. When they experience this rollercoaster of emotions they have to channel those feelings, but the problem is when they don’t have an outlet. It’s like electricity that doesn’t have a plug; it’s going to make sparks. When they don’t have a conduit or a place to express those emotions, that is when the end is near.
How could the industry improve the way it deals with mental health?
The industry is not doing enough. I hope the increase in recognition of the Fashion Psychology Field will bring mental health to the forefront of the fashion industry. Within time mental health will be a huge facet. Just as they have fashion houses, they will have mental health fashion houses.
Has Coronavirus exasperated the issues surrounding mental health in the fashion industry?
Coronavirus might have been the best thing for the industry, as it has made people pay attention to mental health in fashion. The pandemic has forced us to realise that we have more than four emotions: happiness, sadness, excitement and anger.
CREDIT: DAWNN KAREN
How has the pandemic influenced the catwalk, and what we wear?
During the pandemic, I noticed that many designers created whimsical collections. I am seeing escapism. They are designing to have you escape this reality. Some people were designing to keep you in your current reality: loungewear and athleisure. Then other designers were like: “We need to escape from this bullsh*t! I’m going to take you away to Never Never Land!”
With more of us swapping stilettos for slippers and jeans for joggers, how has the pandemic affected our relationship with clothes?
People are actually being truer to themselves. Before they weren’t allowed to wear tracksuits or joggers to work, and they would have to make up how they felt. Being in tune with themselves in the moment could actually allow them to pass through that emotion as opposed to remaining stuck.
What have you been wearing during the pandemic?
Pre-pandemic I would wear sequins, heels and leopard print, but I have only worn leopard print once because it just doesn’t give me the same feeling indoors. Instead of wearing loungewear, I have been wearing kimonos as they make me feel good. I have also been buying lingerie for myself, which I’ll wear to bed with a little slip dress!
What effect does certain clothes and colours have on our mental health and wellbeing?
I had a physician client who was going through a depression, as she was dealing with geriatric patients dying of Coronavirus. On her days off she would find herself wearing pyjamas and feeling depressed. It dawned on me: “How long have you been in your pyjamas?” This was an emergency, so I wrote her a prescription to wear the colour yellow because scientifically certain colours increase dopamine levels. I also made her change pyjamas at least once every three days because certain materials evoke certain emotions. The fabric used in pyjamas is associated with a calming mood. If you’re already in a low emotion and you’re putting on pyjamas, it’s going to lower your mood even more. She reported back to me, and not only did the yellow clothes improve her mood; it improved the mood of her patients.
For more information on Doctor Dawnn Karen, click here
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