LFW: World Peace Through Personal Beauty

I often find myself in the middle of a conflict between prospective apprentices, desperate to go into hairdressing, and their concerned parents wanting them to take a more serious career path like law, medicine, accountancy or banking. “Well let’s face it…..isn’t the fashion and beauty industry along with those other creative types, a bit……… shallow?” My feelings of indignation passed years ago. I feel what we do with personal grooming and visual health is important individually and socially, and exceptionally skilled. It engenders higher self esteem and is aligned to proactive self care and wellbeing, so also links in with the healthcare aims of medicine, but without the gory bits. People who look good feel good. People who feel good do good. I rest my case m’lud.

As for ‘serious careers’….being able to express ourselves in our own version of beauty is also vitally important to a healthy self image which in turn affects how we relate to others. When this freedom is suppressed, it can ferment a deep discontent with potentially tragic consequences. You only have to look at the world’s war zones, where there is no formally established fashion and beauty culture. As far as I’m aware there is no Iraqi Cosmopolitan magazine nor Afghanistan Vogue and I don’t think it’s a coincidence. Perhaps the UN planes should be flying teams from London Fashion Week into the world’s conflict hotspots.