Have you ever thought about how color and fashion have an effect on human behavior? Well, it does. And Dawnn Karen has built a fascinating career around the concept as she consults individuals and businesses on the impact of color and fashion. It is the art of fashion psychology.
Karen has been intrigued by psychology for as long as she can remember. While she was a high school student at Performing Arts High School, she was submerged in art but fascinated by psychology. She later obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Bowling Green State University and is now a certified counselor with a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Columbia University’s Teachers College.
“I began my line of work while attending Columbia University’s Psychological Counseling double master’s program during the day and working in the fashion industry during the evening. I began applying the psychological theories to the egocentricities in fashion. Upon graduating, I developed the concept behind the field of Fashion Psychology,” explains Karen.
Her company, Fashion Psychology, has attracted clients from all walks of life–beauty salon CEOs, successful entrepreneurs, NYC politicians, NYC judges, and entertainers. “I have always had a desire to have my own practice or business. It seemed natural that when I created a field, I would need to have clients for my field. I assist clients under FashionPsychologySuccess .com,” she says.
And it is a niche field. The field of Fashion Psychology can examine one’s internal to external needs for a wide range of topics, from relationships to job promotion to advertising campaigns. “I work with the client’s internal being and their external being. The slogan for FashionPsychologySuccess .com is styling clients from the inside out by bridging the gap between perception and reality,’ says Karen. In other words, she works with clients and companies to make sure their image is truly reflective of their internal wishes. For an advertising campaign, she may tweet the colors to better convey the image the client really wants. Looking to get a job promotion, Karen may help you select fashions that shout success rather than clothes that reflect a stagnant career.
Karen’s work has taken her all over the world. “I have traveled around the world to expand my field,” says Karen, who contributes as a TV expert and writes for several publications on fashion and fashion psychology. She is also in negotiation with the “top universities in NYC to teach my field to students (as a professor),” says Karen, who says by working with clients, she is able to illustrate how fashion psychology can be most useful, beneficial and even cutting-edge.
“Psychology is so pervasive in fashion that people seem to brush it underneath a rug. I hope to openly bring therapy to fashion by giving it a name–Fashion Psychology,” Karen points out. “I enjoy what I do because I am living my childhood dream.”
