Be Well Collective
Grant
Equipping models with practical support for dealing with the day-to-day pressures of the fashion industry.
Summary
In 2017 Sarah Ann Macklin launched the Be Well Collective, establishing a panel of health experts to educate models at the Select modelling agency about the link between nutrition and physical and mental health.
She has since become the resident nutritionist at Select. In 2018 Macklin used the Be Well Collective to bring together all of London’s modelling agencies and educate the models they represent in the tremendous benefits of good nutrition.
Held during London’s Fashion Week, a particularly demanding time when models are most susceptible to stress, anxiety and illness, Macklin and her group of experts explained the causal link between how you eat and how you feel and perform. It was the first time a qualified nutritionist had taken on a major educational role at the heart of the fashion industry with the aim of promoting large-scale change. During this extraordinary initiative, one of the world’s top male models discussed his past feelings of depression and thoughts of suicide at the height of his fame, which he later learned were triggered by his lifestyle and diet.
Where it all began
Macklin began her career as a fashion model. She has appeared in numerous publications, including Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, and has represented luxury brands such as Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, and Ralph Lauren. She was recently photographed wearing Ralph Lauren’s 50th anniversary collection for The Rake’s 10th anniversary shoot at Lauren’s home in Bedford, New York.
Her 12 years as a successful international model showed her how young women are expected to look and perform at their physical best without being offered nutritional guidance. For Macklin it was a serious oversight that models who were expected to conform to certain aesthetic standards were not being educated in achieving these goals by eating to enhance their health, wellbeing and mental energy. Instead, she saw how models were often left to conform to industry norms through experimentation and unhealthy dieting, which resulted in physical and mental depletion.
“I felt it was my calling to change the unhealthy eating habits that I saw were so prevalent in the world of modelling. You have so many young women under a great amount of pressure to look a certain way and perform at a certain level, and the majority of them had no idea that what they were eating played a huge role in their success or failure.”
"Sarah Ann helps the girls to live well and eat well, offering her dietary and nutritional expertise to the girls. We know how fast paced a model’s life can be, Sarah Ann being a successful model herself understands that the importance of living well."
Ben Yuen, Select Model Management
More information
To learn more please visit:
www.bewellcollective.co.uk
