Fashion researcher & psychologist
Shaping the future of fashion as healthy and humankind
Jill Hawkins
I'm a trend researcher and fashion psychologist, exploring the relationships between fashion, lifestyle, wellbeing and creativity. I help businesses like L'Oréal and LEGO to design futures that put human ethics and social responsibility first - from creating products and services that enhance wellbeing, to understanding consumer behaviour to encourage healthy and sustainable choices.
With over 19 years in the fashion, lifestyle and foresight industries, and as a qualified psychologist, my methodology blends design thinking, trend research, foresight skills and psychological science. I bring my creative energy to explore your hunches and help answer the knottiest of unusual questions.
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I research, write, teach and speak globally about the culture, health and psychology of fashion and creativity. I'm here to excite and inspire you to play your part in creating a positive, healthy and ethical future - one that brims with creative opportunity.
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If this sounds like your thing too, let's talk :-)
SERVICES
​Keynote speaker & presenter
Keynote presentations | Panel member | Conferences | Brand events | In-person | Online
I'm a trusted speaker and a ball of energy with a strong, fun and friendly visual presence. My colourful, engaging presentations move you to feel, and highlight opportunities that inspire positive, successful and relevant change.​​​
​Human insight & consumer Behaviour
Qualitative research | Deep human insight | Project management | Actionable themes | Engaging outputs
AKA investigative detective work: Mixed methods research to deeply understand people's lifestyles, values, needs and opportunities, and the evolving zeitgeist that contextualises them.​​​​
Futures research & Trend Forecasting
Design research | Social & cultural zeitgeist | Fashion futures | Health & fitness futures | Mixed media outputs (experiential, written, audio, visual)
Bespoke futures research, analysis and opportunities to answer your brief. My specialism lies in fashion, health and lifestyle trends, but I can research the future of almost anything...​​​
Creative research skills | Trend forecasting & futurist skills |
In-house training for businesses | University & college lecturing | Workshops
Nurturing a world of proactive, future-focused optimists: amplify your creativity by learning foresight tools and design research techniques from a risk-taking, multi-hyphenate creative ;-)​​​
Insights I've uncovered
regular Exercise reduces panic buying
Maintaining a regular exercise routine not only helps British women dress more authentically and boldly, but it also helps them limit any panic-buying tendencies, as they make more confident style decisions. Through community, embodiment, their improved body acceptance helps them reject style norms and trends, and choose clothes that really reflect their true self. What an opportunity to simultaneously reduce unnecessary purchases and enhance wellbeing!
Creative entrepreneurs and the troublemaker theory
Creative entrepreneurs are actually “failure experts”. They are self-described troublemakers / trouble-magnets who attract problems (to be solved). This “trouble-maker theory” was a relatable, human-first framing of their entrepreneurial spirit which we developed a to identify the levels of development and attitude that influenced the processes entrepreneurs went through, the stages they struggled with, and the potential opportunities for FabLabs (digital fabrication laboratories) to help creative entrepreneurs prototype and develop their ideas.
Using Clothing to overturn disability stereotypes
Physically disabled young women use their clothing and personal style to overturn disability stereotypes and ultimately help them make friends. By using bold, statement-making outfits to ‘speak louder’ than their visible disability (i.e., a wheelchair or atypical feet), they simultaneously reframe people’s socially-informed assumptions about disabled people and improve their body image related self-esteem. This research highlighted opportunities for inclusive clothing and related media that doesn’t just nail functionality, but critically, puts personality first.
funny or cancel? Gen Z and the fine line of awkwardness
When Gen Z experience awkwardness, it’s mostly on behalf of others: peers, brands, society… and whilst there are funny and hilarious awkward moments that they laugh about, there’s a fine line between awkward (funny), and awkward (I’m-going-to-cancel-you) - because someone or something needs to confess to making a faux pas. So, using it as brand communication requires deep knowledge of your audience’s triggers and awkward boundaries. (We developed a nifty scale for this!)
Clients & collaborators
I've had the chance to work on some incredible projects, with lovely people and exciting brands, across an A-Z of industries.
My Philosophy
I believe that creativity, fashion and self-expression are related to our health and wellbeing, and can be used as a force for human and social good.
My client work and personal projects share a common aim:
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To make creativity and fashion accessible and inclusive - for all bodies, minds, abilities, needs, societies and identities.
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To shape a world where our relationships with every aspect of the fashion experience (making, seeing, obtaining, wearing, parting with...) are healthy, socially responsible and environmentally positive.​