Chloe Wickman, founder of Zeenya
Kick-start spring with a burst of colour and take up the 7 Days of Colour challenge with Zeenya’s Chloe Wickman and help support Look Good Feel Better organisation along the way.
The vibrant Zeenya activewear founder and self-titled ‘Head of Colour’ is on a quest to encourage women to reach for colour from 1 to 7 September to celebrate the arrival of spring and discover the benefits of ‘dopamine dressing’.
The power of colour is one of the driving factors behind the growth of Chloe’s successful Zeenya clothing brand and is something she feels strongly about sharing with others.
While part of her love of colour is purely around the mood-enhancing benefits, there’s also a legacy around why she’s so passionate about partnering with LGFB.
“When I was younger, my Mum was diagnosed with breast cancer and the impact that LGFB had on her at the time was really powerful.
“I remember she went to one of the LGFB workshops and came home with different make-up and techniques to try. I still remember her feeling so much brighter about herself because of it.
“I also see a lot of the same values between Zeenya and LGFB. We’re both focused on community and connecting people, supporting them to feel good with where they’re at right now rather than waiting to feel good in the future.
“So I’m proud to launch ‘7 Days of Colour’ in association with Look Good Feel Better to invite others to experience the transformative, mood-boosting power of colour, by committing to wear colour from 1 to 7 September!”
Chloe’s advice for those who are more used to disguising themselves in black or grey: “There are two options: start safely, or go hard. It’s completely dependent on the individual!”
She advises that the best place to safely start is by pairing a favourite colour with something already in your wardrobe.
“You might have a favourite pair of pants that you can brighten up with a cheerful top, or if you’re like me when I made the transition, I just jumped into the deep end.
“It’ll feel weird for the first couple of days but you may also notice that you’ll start to feel different. Wearing colour really does make you feel good.
“I always judge my outfits by my happy dance, if I put them on and I feel good and want to wiggle, then that’s the one for me. Black rarely does this for me now that I’m deep in the colour world.”
Chloe plans to kick off her 7 Days of Colour with a shade that helps her focus – like blues and greens.
“If it’s a day that I get out for a run, I’ll be grabbing my favourite orange running shorts to get that extra boost of orange goodness that colour provides. It’s such a great colour for inspiring energy and motivation.”
Wearing black is something of an institution in New Zealand. Our national sports teams wear top-to-toe black. We wear black to hide when we aren’t feeling our most confident. We think black gives the illusion of being slimming (thanks to French women) and that it goes with everything and makes dressing ‘easy’.
The association between brightly coloured clothing and happiness is not a new thing. In fact, the idea of instilling joy through what we wear has long been the subject of psychological research.
Colour is well known to affect our mood: it’s boosting, engaging and connecting, and scientifically proven to make us feel good. If you’re trying to decide what colours to embrace, here’s a little advice.
- Blue is a calming colour that can make you feel centred, relaxed, and serene. It’s known to help lower blood pressure, clear the mind, and help steady one’s breathing.
- Yellow brightens your mood and increases your energy
- Green helps to reduce anxiety and is known to be restorative, mind-clearing, and encourage composure and for those who love the outdoors, it also evokes an outdoorsy, natural feel
- Purple gives off a romantic, mysterious, and luxurious vibe and is great for sparking creativity
- Orange is an exciting colour that brings a burst of energy and enthusiasm. It’s a great colour to exercise in for this reason.
- Red is a great colour to use for socialising and social situations
- Pink – Interestingly enough, there is such a thing called the ‘Pink Effect’. This is when exposure to large amounts of pink can have a calming effect on the nerves.
Zeenya, home of New Zealand’s happiest activewear, is proudly launching ‘7 Days of Colour’ in association with Look Good Feel Better to help raise money for people living with cancer.
How to get behind 7 Days of Colour for LGFB:
- Visit Zeenya’s website and sign up to do the 7DOC Challenge
- Click on ‘sign me up’ and you’ll receive a code to get 10% off the purchase of anything online at Zeenyaclothing.com, and they will donate 10% of your order value to Look Good Feel Better on your behalf.
- OR if your wardrobe is looking colourful enough already without adding new activewear, then you can make a donation directly to LGFB here
There are also options for colour enthusiasts to host an event and plenty of Zeenya vouchers to giveaway for those taking part and tagging @zeenyaclothing on social media channels using the #7daysofcolour.
Images supplied