woo remixes wellness for a more anxious Gen Z audience

Listen, we all came out of the pandemic different people; our sleep debt erased, our wallets proportionately heavier, and the inside of our bodies feeling something akin to detoxified after a forced two years away from the dance floor (and subsequent afters). We all turned to wellness during this time, whether that’s what we were calling it or not. We endlessly searched for ways not just to compensate for the extra time on our hands but also to occupy our minds and look after our selves (this usually happened in tandem). The internet—namely TikTok—was a gold mine for creative hacks to enhance your at-home meditation session and advice on amplifying the amount of dopamine one can reap from nature.

Understanding that there would continue to be a market for these newly ingrained practices in our post-pandemic lives—lives that would see us lapping up hedonism like it never left but also craving a little something a little more from the comedown—woo launched last month as an antidote to the cringey woo woo culture that brought us vagina scented candles and instead looks to shift the cultural perception around wellness by becoming the first “generation cultural movement designed to make wellness discoverable, aspirational and culturally relevant.”

Read more here: Desa Potato Head launches SANCTUARY, a clash of modern & traditional wellness practices

Conceptualised by a team that brought you VICE, i-D, Boiler Room and LADbible, and led by Potato Head’s former CMO Stephen Mai and Creative Director Dan Mitchell, the ITV backed endeavour will feature new shows, editorial and products designed to make you feel good. “An antidote to the toxic news cycle,” a press release reads.

woo calls itself a “cultural ecosystem for the mind, body and spirit” and via its hybrid platform, it plans to evoke a greater sense of balance for the Gen Z lifestyle through music, fashion, art and food culture.

Through the lens of wellbeing, woo hopes to take its audience on an "unexpected journey into music and film, fashion, art and culture, mental health, and drugs."

Featuring talent including YouTube music sensation Niko B, TikTok star by way of 20m likes Oatmilk Leader (Mary Steven), and activist, model, and changemaker Emma Breschi, the new media platform launched last week and has already announced hero shows like Higher Frequencies, which combines restorative frequencies with hypnotising visuals and deconstructed beats from artists like Vegyn, Beabadoobee, Ashnikko and Flume to deliver a supercharged sound healing experience.

Read more here: New mindfulness app is utilising spatial audio to provide “immersive” experience

Other shows include The Bigger Trip, which explores how Gen Z are using psychedelics to alter their perspectives, and Life in Love, a documentary series that takes a different, intimate and honest look at love, and falling out of love too.

As the platform grows, it will evolve to include a mood-enhancing marketplace later this year, focusing on gender-neutral streetwear, CBD gummies, skincare and homeware to boost your mood, and an array of sexual wellness products.

Feel good here

[image via Amir Hossain]

Olivia Wycech is Mixmag Asia’s Culture Editor, follow her on Instagram.