Health benefits for luxury and fashion houses

What creative leaders need from health care

Creative leaders need care that moves with the calendar. A design director or buyer may spend most of a season away, and the research on heavy travel is clear about the cost. In a study of the medical records of 13,057 people, those who travelled for work more than 20 nights a month were 2.61 times as likely to rate their own health as fair or poor [1].

A later study of the same population found that people travelling 21 or more nights a month were more likely to report trouble sleeping and symptoms of anxiety and depression, and its authors concluded that employers should help people stay well while they travel [2].

Jet lag and the fashion calendar

Long-haul flights between the shows bring travel fatigue and jet lag, and the main difficulties are lost sleep and reduced performance [3]. Jet lag comes mainly from the body clock running on the wrong time for the new time zone, and a review in The Lancet describes both behavioural and medical ways to help it adjust [3].

A doctor who knows the season ahead can plan that with the person before they fly. Some medicines are illegal to carry in some countries, and the World Health Organization advises travellers to carry a letter from their doctor for them [4].

Long hours before a show or a launch

The weeks before a collection or a launch are long, and long hours carry a measured risk. The World Health Organization and the International Labour Organization estimate that working 55 hours or more a week, compared with 35 to 40 hours, is linked to a 35% higher risk of stroke and a 17% higher risk of dying from ischaemic heart disease [5].

Leaders feel the load most. A global workplace survey found 46% of leaders reporting a lot of stress the previous day, 7 points more than individual contributors [6]. A yearly review with the same physician, and a doctor who can be reached the day something changes, gives a creative director practical support through the season.

Ateliers and boutiques

A house is also its artisans and its client advisers, and the same membership covers them. A pattern cutter in Paris or a client adviser in Dubai sees a doctor or a dentist through the same concierge as the creative director.

Atelier work is skilled and physical, done at a bench for many hours. A doctor or physiotherapist who can see an artisan within days of a problem starting means a small strain is looked at early.

For a house with boutiques in many cities, one membership replaces a different local plan in each, and every person in the house receives the same standard of care.

Care in the cities where luxury houses work

Luxury and fashion gather in a small number of cities, and our 13 cities include the capitals of the fashion calendar, Paris, Milan, New York and London, together with Tokyo and Dubai. Beverly Hills and Miami hold boutiques and clients that many houses serve closely, as does Monaco.

A creative director who lands in Milan for the shows and flies on to Tokyo keeps the same concierge and the same record in both. When a house hosts its teams and clients in a hotel or residence, care can be arranged there as well. Families who travel with a creative director during the shows are covered by the same membership in each city.

A checklist for a house choosing health benefits

Ask these questions of any partner you consider, ourselves included.

• Can a creative leader see a doctor the same day in each city on the show calendar?
• Does a doctor plan medicines and sleep across time zones with the person before a long trip?
• Are atelier and boutique teams covered by the same membership as the leadership?
• Are families covered by the same arrangement and the same concierge?
• Does the house see anonymised reporting only, with small groups left out?
• Is there one invoice and one renewal date for every country?

What The Wellness for teams gives a luxury house

The Wellness for teams is one membership for the whole house, with its leaders and their families included, and it holds inpatient and outpatient care, dental care, diagnostics and health programmes in 13 cities. A concierge arranges everything, and the house receives one invoice, renewed once a year. Outside the United States it takes the place of national plans at renewal, and in the United States it is the global layer above the medical plan.

The house sees anonymised reporting only, with small groups left out, under a data processing agreement. Leaders can start in one morning and the whole house within 10 days. Nobody is refused care, and care beyond the plan is billed at the published fee. Our doctors are registered with the General Medical Council, and care is delivered through registered partner clinics and accredited laboratories.