Longevity.
“Youth is a quality, not a matter of circumstances” — Frank Lloyd Wright
The longevity industry is expected to be worth $600 billion by 2025. While, by definition, longevity means “living longer,” it’s far richer than striving for more birthday candles; It's increasing the number of years you remain physically and mentally active, socially engaged, and disease-free before declining. It’s living life to the fullest. Bolstering our mind, body and soul for the duration.
As with everything age-related, this focused field of medicine has morphed into a sales pitch filled with confusion, myths and — you guessed it — anti-aging proclamations. While I have walked away from writing beauty editorial, reporting about the future of beauty, especially as it relates to our well-being and identity, continues to pique my curiosity. And longevity, while about our lifespan, is more about our day to day. Here, some thoughts on staying present, happy and grounded. For as long as we live.
In Health
How does longevity measure up to overall wellness — which has skyrocketed to $5.6 trillion (yes, that T is not a typo) and at this pace will reach $8.5 trillion by 2027. If you heed direction from Peter Attia, a one-time general surgeon on a mission of “lengthening lifespan and simultaneously improving healthspan”, we could live better — disease-free — for longer. Not to age 150, despite recent research showing this is possible, but longer than we are accustomed with superior quality of life. Note the nary of “anti-aging” claims.
What is meaningful about Attia’s approach is that it’s realistic as he does not subscribe to, what he calls, “science fiction”; promises stemming from “a Silicon Valley ethos that ‘we are going to engineer our way to immortality.’” Ahem, paging Bryan Johnson. Attia believes things can — and will — continue to improve, even for those of us already over 50. We can be cognitively and physically strong — rather than frail — for as long as possible when exercise, sleep, nutrition and emotional health are prioritized; these are the cornerstones for increasing health span.
I highly recommend Attia’s book Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, a very digestible NY Times bestseller, as it’s a fantastic road map and education surrounding the pillars of longevity . Read his wisdom “if for no other reason than to motivate you to be more serious about using the tools we have today for primary and secondary prevention of disease, for optimizing and maximizing lifespan and healthspan…which seriously could add a decade to your life.” A snapshot of his promising insights can also be found on his podcast, The Drive; bring a notepad as it’s information dense.
Like the 80% of Americans Attia references in the book, I feel younger than my age. The beauty is this youthful spirit is about an energy rather than a wrinkle-free existence. And while I prefer to evolve throughout the year — tweaking nutrition, sleep habits and elevating exercise regimens — rather than subscribe to the “New Year, New You,” resolutions mentality, taking stock in where we are as the year winds down is a good thing.
In Aging
While Norma Kamali wields advice wearing her renowned sleeping bag coat*, rather than a surgeon’s lab coat, she lives a life centered around longevity and challenging the “unnecessary concept of ‘anti-aging.’"
Kamali, who authored the book "I am Invincible”, believes aging with power is the pathway to longer lifespan; she believes she can — and is striving to — live to age 120. Despite this radical goal, Kamali does echo some of Attia’s realism. At age 78 (but “spiritually, I identify as at least twenty years younger!”), age 120 is a checkpoint for keeping her life on track: “How am I going to get to 120 if I’m wasting this day on stupidity?” she asks herself on the reg.
Kamali is a disciple of Dr. Andrew Weil, the integrative doctor who believes inflammation is the root cause of accelerated aging and age-related disease. Much like Attia, she deigns sleep and exercise — along with excellent nutrition — as pillars for a longer, healthier life. These feel attainable — dare I say enjoyable — and require 100+ less supplements than Bryan Johnson prescribes.
*Note: Designed in 1973, the sleeping bag coat continues to thrive — it is rarely on sale, but is currently at 50% off!
In Fashion
As you would expect from a fashion designer who has been in business for 56 years, Kamali vows what you wear is important in your longevity journey. “Being able to control your mental health by how you dress sounds ridiculous to anybody who’s not in the fashion industry. But I consider myself a wise old sage, and I’m telling you, when I put on something that makes me feel happy, I feel happy, despite whatever is going on in the world.”
Given the chaos and world events since October 7th (and let’s face it 2020), we could all use a fashion boost. I wholeheartedly agree about the power of a wardrobe as I continue to pitch my own fashion essay collection. Based on the premise that what we wear shapes who we are and who we strive to be, the tales of love, loss, working in fashion and ultimately finding my authentic self — all told through what I wore — is more than an entertaining romp through fashion nostalgia but a reminder of what you wore along the way. And just like fashion, a good read improves our mental health.
In the end, it’s the underlying theme of Kamali’s inspirational book that’s a worthy takeaway: Nutrition, exercise and sleep are paramount for longevity, but “authenticity, knowing your purpose and what is important, and making decisions based on this life commitment” are equally fundamental. And, thankfully, improve with age.
Longevity is not a trend but an invaluable lifestyle to adopt as we age — unlike its beauty counterpart, $64 billion in products that pointlessly claim to defy aging. If we learn anything from longevity principles, it’s to enjoy living. Stay curious. Be open-minded. Sleep, move and eat well along the way so that we can spend even more time loving and laughing.