"One person. One voice." is the project that addresses mental health in fashion Florian Müller and Claudia Malecka are ready to shake the fashion system
In the contemporary fashion landscape there are uncomfortable topics that the system itself is not yet ready to confront or would hardly be willing to acknowledge, such as that of mental health. Perhaps due to a lack of tools or, more likely, because of mechanisms that have now become deeply rooted in a toxic mindset and a failed work ethic, whose only objective seems to be to prevail, succeed, and constantly compete with one’s rivals.
But if the fashion system appears as a vast and dispersed organism, it is above all those who work within it who pay the consequences: people subjected to immeasurable sources of stress, unacceptable working rhythms, and a perpetual comparison from which it seems impossible to escape. If today projects such as One person. One voice., created by Florian Müller, founder of the international campaign Mental Health in Fashion, together with artist Claudia Malecka, are taking shape, it means that there is still important awareness work to be done and that, now more than ever, plurality and collectivity can strengthen a message that does not concern the individual, but all of us.
One person. One voice.
One person. One voice. is conceived as a mirror of diversity and, at the same time, as a unicum of experiences addressing the issue of mental health within the fashion system. Through the difficulties that emerge from it, the project constructs an authentic and personal spectrum, capable of bringing fashion, photography, and an unfiltered gaze on contemporaneity into dialogue.
The photographic initiative, part of the same campaign, is funded by Projekt Zukunft, a programme of the Department for Economy, Energy and Public Enterprises of the Berlin Senate. With over twenty years of experience in fashion communication through Müller PR & Consulting and a background that intertwines economics and psychology, Florian Müller has long worked to shed light on the psychological pressures systematically silenced within the industry.
As stated in its opening premise, the project claims diversity while maintaining mental health as its core: «For me, diversity is simply the key aspect of this project, and therefore, if a selection of voices is made, I would also like to see greater diversity within that group, particularly in relation to the discourse surrounding mental health in fashion».
And it is precisely around this idea of plurality that One person. One voice. revolves: during Berlin Fashion Week, Müller’s conceptual vision merged with the essential and minimal visual language of filmmaker, artist, creative director, and photographer Claudia Malecka. From this encounter emerged a series of thirty-five spontaneous street portraits, placed in front of a suspended white background that removes any superfluous element, giving people and their words a radical presence.
Each portrayed individual shares a personal reflection on the theme Mental Health in Fashion. People from design, media, craftsmanship, education, and activism speak about performance pressure, vulnerability, empathy, and mental strength. Together they construct a powerful image of what psychological well-being means within an industry shaped by speed, perfection, and constant public exposure. Moreover, the combination of portrait and testimony embodies the initiative’s central message: mental health can no longer be ignored in a fashion industry that aims to define itself as truly sustainable and future-oriented.
Making light and making a difference
At the core of the project lies the belief that the voices of those who work directly within the fashion system must be heard, as well as those who are too often ignored or given no opportunity to share their experiences. The initiative also addresses the issue of consumption, showing how contemporary fashion consumption models produce effects that are not only environmental, but also psychological along the entire production chain, influencing working conditions, individual well-being, and inevitably society as a whole.
To support this transformation, Mental Health in Fashion creates platforms dedicated to education and dialogue: Müller organises lectures and workshops at universities and design schools such as Bunka Fashion College, Institut Français de la Mode, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and also develops training programmes for fashion companies so that mental health can be systematically integrated into organisational culture.
Creative languages also play a central role in this process. Under Müller’s direction, an eponymous category dedicated to Mental Health in Fashion was introduced within the A Shaded View On Fashion Film Festival, founded by Diane Pernet. In previous editions, the role of ASVOFF President was held by Michèle Lamy and, most recently, by Willy Chavarria. The presence of such influential figures underlines the growing cultural relevance that mental health is gaining within contemporary fashion.
In a system that has built much of its narrative on appearance, performance, and hyper-visibility, projects such as One person. One voice. open up a space of shared vulnerability. It is not only about denouncing the fragilities of the sector, but about redefining the very meaning of care, listening and collective responsibility within the fashion industry. Perhaps today, speaking about mental health in fashion means precisely this: breaking the silence, restoring humanity to the bodies and people who inhabit the system, and understanding that no image, however perfect, can ever be worth more than the well-being of those who make it possible.
