Each year, the Global Wellness Summit (GWS) identifies new trends they perceive will have a meaningful impact on the $3.7 trillion wellness industry. It is important to note that this is the only wellness forecast that draws on the insights of more than 600 executives who were delegates and presenters at the 2017 Global Wellness Summit. In addition, the GWS Forecast is the sole trends report based on the perspectives of renowned economists, medical and wellness professionals, academics, and leaders across all sectors of the wellness industry. Trend #8 for 2018 is “A New Feminist Wellness.” Here’s a brief summary of the ways in which GWS sees women impacting approaches to wellness and the greater industry in 2018 and beyond.
Less Me, More Us
A new wave of feminism–a new concept of self-care that involves political activism–is arising from a growing realization that governments and medicine aren’t hurrying to “solve” for women’s bodies and lives. As we move through 2018 and beyond, we will see powerful new intersections between women’s empowerment, feminism and wellness. The wellness world has long been quietly “solving for women” so it’s a natural outcome that today’s activist and wellness-oriented women will take hold of solving for their own bodies.
Women Supporting Women
New women-only clubs, co-working spaces, and collectives are popping up designed for women to meet, network, support each other and each others’ businesses, learn and be politically active together and much of it served up in wellness environments. New York City's The Wing (pictured above) is a network of co-working and community spaces designed for women with the goal of creating new opportunities, ideas and conversations that will lead to greater mobility and prosperity for womankind.
FemTech
We are witnessing a whole crop of women doctors, technologists and designers who are identifying unaddressed issues surrounding women’s bodies and their lives. These fixes targeting women’s bodies and sexuality fall under an umbrella being called “FemTech.” FemTech may be about creating apps for easily accessible real-time fertility and hormone tracking for women, creating new approaches to menstruation like the diva cup or period panties. FemTech is also embracing women-designed and created “smart” bras and clothing that actually fits larger sizes. A new trend in fashion sports a more covered-up, loose, unstructured look for women’s business attire which acknowledges the actual size of real women’s bodies.
Solving for Women of Color and Revising #WellnessSoWhite
Women of color are a powerful customer base and they’re passionate about self-care. Specifically designed fitness and yoga classes and beauty brands rolling out cosmetic lines to suit dozens of skin tones are part of this new solving for women of color.
Women’s Empowerment Wellness Travel
Safe extreme adventure travel for the solo woman as well as more emotional healing retreats for women or retreats designed to help women get their sexual wellness back are catching on.
Painmoons is the new coined word describing how women’s wellness travel gets real about offering healing spaces for women to deal with their anger and sadness. Painmoon retreats acknowledge that women (like men) so often go through rough chapters at times when they need wellness the most. We are seeing more retreats focused on helping women get past emotions of hurt, sadness or low self-esteem and thinking you’re not beautiful enough.
Solving for HER Pleasure and Sexual Wellness
Sexual pleasure brands are currently and boldly aligning themselves with wellness while sex is quickly shedding its taboo.
The Power of Education and the Purse
“From 2013-2023, the global incomes of women will explode from $13 trillion to $18 trillion, and that $5 trillion increase represents more than twice the expected growth in GDP from both China and India. By 2028, women will control close to 75% of discretionary world spending.
In the UK it’s predicted that, by 2020, women’s pay will overtake men’s, and that they will own 60% of wealth by 2025, with a similar figure forecast for the U.S.”
Women are also massively gaining an education advantage.
“Women in the U.S. earned 42% more degrees than men in 2015 (to grow to 48% by 2022) while in Britain it’s predicted that a girl born in 2016 will be 75% more likely to attend university than a boy.
As women’s career success and spending power skyrockets, their spending on designed-for-them wellness will also soar."
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Source: McGroarty, Beth, et al. 2018 Global Wellness Trends Report. Global Wellness Summit, 2018, 2018 Global Wellness Trends Report, globalwellnesssummit.com.