In her intimate new podcast, Fashion Neurosis, British designer Bella Freud delves into the profound connection between what we wear and our emotional well-being. From her West London studio, she reflects on the impact of clothing choices: “The wrong outfit can make you feel like something is wrong with you,” she explains. “Don’t you want to know why that is? I do. I’m obsessed.”
Freud is dedicated to exploring how our emotional health is mirrored in our fashion choices, emphasizing that “there’s more to a dress than just a dress.” Her podcast, launching this month, features guests like Kate Moss and Courteney Cox, who join her in a therapy-style setting to discuss their personal style, fears, and relationships with their wardrobes. “I’m really interested in getting to the bottom of how our emotional health is reflected in our clothes,” she adds. Through candid conversations, Freud aims to unravel the complexities of ‘frock consciousness’ and its influence on our lives.
Bella Freud: Fashion and Psychoanalysis Intersect in Fashion Neurosis
Bella Freud’s quip about a dress echoes her great-grandfather Sigmund Freud’s famous inquiry into a slip for a reason: she is indeed his great-granddaughter. This lineage also includes her father, artist Lucian Freud, her sister, novelist Esther Freud, and her cousin, broadcaster Emma Freud.
“I have to acknowledge all that,” she says, with the straightforwardness of a doctor delivering a diagnosis. “Once I mention it, I need to move on quickly—there’s only a small window before we run out of things to discuss.”
Freud describes Fashion Neurosis as a playful nod to her great-grandfather’s work in psychoanalysis. However, she emphasizes that it’s intended as a light-hearted take on therapy and aims to foster thoughtful discussions about mental health within the fashion community—without the judgments or oversimplifications often seen on social media. “I hate that stuff. It’s so two-dimensional,” she states, advocating for a more nuanced approach to understanding how fashion intersects with our emotional lives.
Instead, Freud aims to embrace what Virginia Woolf referred to as “frock consciousness,” a concept now echoed by fashion psychologist Shakaila Forbes Bell as “Big Dress Energy.” This idea suggests that clothing can serve as a means to express or even heal aspects of our inner selves. “An outfit that makes you feel powerful can significantly enhance your mental agility and help your body feel more relaxed,” Freud explains. “That’s an important connection to recognize and nurture.”
Bella Freud on Discovering Power Through Fashion
Freud’s journey into fashion began at the age of 10 when she stumbled upon a boy’s button-down shirt at a jumble sale. The sleeves were too big, so she took kitchen scissors to them. “I felt pretty powerless sometimes as a kid,” she recalls. “But when I put on that shirt and looked in the mirror, I suddenly felt agile and powerful. It was a real moment for me.”
Her unconventional upbringing—partly spent in Morocco—was immortalized in the 2004 film Hideous Kinky, based on her sister Esther’s novel. After returning to London, a teenage Freud chopped off her waist-length hair and ventured out to a dive bar, where she spotted Vivienne Westwood. “I was so scared but I marched up to her and asked, ‘Is there any possibility I could come and work for you? Just a Saturday job?'” Westwood responded with a compliment about her hair, leading to a weekend position at the designer’s legendary Seditionaries shop in Chelsea.
There, Freud learned firsthand how Westwood’s iconic pieces—like black bondage pants and spiked leather collars—could transform her appearance. “People regarded me with real authority for the first time,” she reflects. “I realized, ‘Oh. Okay. Fashion has power. I can have power.'” This revelation continues to shape her understanding of style as a means of personal empowerment.
Bella Freud’s Fashion Journey: From Studio Assistant to Podcast Pioneer
In her 20s, Bella Freud was promoted to studio assistant for Vivienne Westwood, launching her own collection in 1990. By 1994, Women’s Wear Daily hailed her as a breakout talent at London Fashion Week, thanks to her vibrant plaid miniskirt suits that captured Westwood’s Anglomania spirit while embracing playful hemlines. After a stint at the iconic rock ‘n’ roll label Biba, she returned to focus on her own brand, gaining significant recognition with her viral sweaters featuring the year 1970—”the decade I became alert to the world,” she notes—worn by celebrities like Olivia Wilde and Yara Shahidi.
Freud credits her “always be curious” philosophy to Westwood, while her strong work ethic stems from her father. “I didn’t grow up with him, but when I did see him, he was completely focused on his work. I learned that to achieve anything, that focus is essential.”
Fashion Neurosis is just one aspect of her multifaceted career. While still leading her fashion brand, Freud is expanding into home goods—offering dishware, vases, and art prints, including her well-known “Ginsberg is God” lithograph. She’s also introducing more affordable graphic tees and socks to attract a broader customer base.
The podcast has already made a significant impact, debuting with renegade designer Rick Owens and quickly rising to number one on Apple’s fashion and beauty charts in the UK. It sits at number eight on Spotify’s arts and culture list, and has cracked the top 25 in the US. Despite the increasing competition in the fashion podcast space, Freud welcomes it, believing that more voices foster a stronger community. “In fashion, there’s everything to be gained by listening to each other,” she asserts.
As a seasoned designer, Freud often finds herself “listening through clothing” during her daily commutes on the London Tube. “I let my eyes do the listening—what are people wearing? What do they want to say to each other?” Occasionally, she spots someone in one of her designs, particularly her embroidered sweaters. “When that happens, I nod. They nod. Do they know it’s me? Do we need to talk? No. The clothes do the talking; they bring what’s inside, outside.”
Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud is available to listen now.
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