Age of clean living - and flaunting it to the world

Trips to Paris, caviar and Prada shoes are making way for kung fu holidays, yoga retreats, super foods and designer gym apparel as healthy living becomes the new status symbol of the rich and famous.

UK market research company Euromonitor International released its top 10 global consumer trends for 2017 this week and lists wellness among them.

It's evident in South Africa as more celebrities flaunt their desire for clean living through "athleisure" clothing, food with health-giving properties, rigorous exercise and wellness holidays.

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Athleisure is a trend in fashion in which clothing designed for exercise is worn in social settings.

Euromonitor International says healthy living - an industry worth $3-trillion (about R41-trillion) according to the Global Wellness Institute - is becoming a status symbol.

"Consumer interest in staying well sees them combining wellbeing activities with cathartic physical activity. This is reflected in a thriving menu of more boutique fitness workout choices in urban hubs and spas," said consumer trends analyst Daphne Kasriel-Alexander.

"Furthermore, consumers are aware that eating habits directly influence quality of life. This is fuelling unprecedented demand for healthier eating options with fitness-promoting attributes sought in supplements, beauty products and even pet food by consumers willing to pay for them."

Celebrity chef Siba Mtongana - host of Siba's Table on Food Network - is embracing the clean-living trend with gusto. She has lost 10kg in six months.

"Now that I have had my three kids, I felt it was time to give more focus to an active lifestyle and going back to a cleaner diet.

"I've always enjoyed athleisure wear and being on this journey cultivated that even more. I'm generally a fun and energetic person, so I guess this trend works for me.

"Health and wellness is on everyone's lips these days."

Mtongana said healthy living - which includes running, skipping and hiking, eating salads, seafood and fresh fruit, and taking wellness holidays with her family - had become her lifestyle and not a life sentence.

Kasriel-Alexander said that at a time when consuming "stuff", once an indicator of wealth, was taking a back seat, "the lack of things, of excess fat, of wayward thoughts even, now defines aspiration and is at the heart of the consumer interest in wellness".

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South African fitness and wellness guru Lisa Raleigh believes clean living "is not a trend or hobby, it is a lifestyle".

"I think the more our knowledge on the subject increases, the more individuals will naturally and rightfully move in that direction," Raleigh said.

The athleisure clothing trend "is another area that has broadened and progressed accordingly with our growing knowledge of and commitment to living healthily".

Kasriel-Alexander said sportswear had become as aligned with trends and seasons as general fashion-focused industries were.

"I particularly love this element of healthy living today - it may seem of little importance, but general society is greatly influenced by what is trending and what is 'cool' or popular," she said.

"If that is broadening to include athleisure, in the name of spending more time wearing clothes suitable to more active lifestyles, it is essentially promoting healthier habits in the public and that's a great thing."

Raleigh said pleasure-based holidays were making way for getaways with a strong focus on "destressing and recovery" because of stress-rich modern lives.

Fitness junkie Graeme Richards, a presenter on SABC3's Expresso, says living clean is his mantra.

Richards - who keeps fit through martial arts and trail running - is into athleisure wear.

block_quotes_start I embrace clean living because it makes me feel better about myself and allows me to be at the top of my game block_quotes_end

"There is some crazy-cool gear out there. I've built a great relationship with both Asics and Adidas who lead the way when it comes to fashion meeting functional in my mind."

When it comes to wellness holidays he finds locations that "allow me to run free ... my addiction is trail running through new terrain, the wilder the better. An adventure holiday in the home of kung fu, China is also definitely on my bucket list," said Richards.

 Actress and model Carishma Basday, known for her role in the movie Material, eats organic superfoods, loves clothing herself in Lorna Jane designer activewear and is a yoga fanatic who has also taken to rock climbing and free diving.

"Putting on awesome active wear really motivates me and inspired me to work out," she said.

"I love retreats. It offers you time to really immerse yourself in something and work on your body, mind and soul which we so often neglect with our crazy lives," said Basday.

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While clean living is not always easy and can be costly, for her "there is no other way".

Rapper and hip-hop record producer Chad da Don likes a "lean and clean" lifestyle.

"I embrace clean living because it makes me feel better about myself and allows me to be at the top of my game."

He is into meditation getaways that allow him to rejuvenate.

But for Idols judge and choreographer Somizi Mhlongo - who is enjoying success with his dance exercise DVD Grind! with Somizi - it is a balance between a healthy lifestyle and indulgence.

"I don't follow a clean-living regimen, I follow a realistic, healthy lifestyle; 80% of the time I watch what I eat and on weekends I take them as my cheat days.

"During the week I don't touch alcohol. When it comes to holidays, they must be holidays ... I want the cocktails on the beach," Mhlongo said.

govendersu@sundaytimes.co.za