EBiT is looking for models who speak openly about mental health

Though modelling is an inherently aesthetic practice, multidisciplinary brand EBiT (Enjoy Being in Transition) has taken a more holistic approach to casting. For the brand’s latest project, a new website and e-commerce platform, it exclusively featured models who have experience dealing with challenging mental health. 

“When it came to opening an e-commerce site, we wanted to humanise the process,” says EBiT founder Simon Whitehouse. “We wanted to reverse the transactional nature of traditional e-commerce by presenting the people first before the products.”

Chosen in collaboration with casting director Irene Manicone, emerging models Elena Roncaglia, Leonardo Mapelli  and Nina Thomas front the new campaign, along with journalist, creative director and friend of the brand, Jordan Anderson. When shoppers click on an item, the product page displays not only the models wearing the clothes, but also a description of the models’ personal experiences with challenges like anxiety and depression. 

Though the decision was a unique one, it’s in line with the EBiT’s longtime ethos. Founded during the height of the 2020 pandemic, the brand was created as a way to promote conversations about mental health in the fashion industry. The brand’s past projects, which are all available for viewing on the new site, include collections like [E200] Bipolar/Bicolor, which raised awareness for bipolar disorder and [E100] Psycho PenPals, which challenged taboos around the word “psycho.” In addition to the curation of EBiT collections, the new site also includes a consolidation of mental health resources worldwide, providing the names and contact information of mental health organisations in 197 countries. 

As a continuation of this initial launch, EBiT is not just diversifying the casting process but democratising it, as the new EBiT site now features an open casting call page where those with direct or indirect experiences with mental health can connect with the brand for future projects. While many brands pay lip service to inclusivity, EBiT is circumventing the industry's gravitation towards performativity and baking it into every aspect of its process. 

“There is much talk about the state of the fashion and luxury industry right now, and it’s clear we’re in a mental health epidemic, with the pressures of extreme capitalism,” says Whitehouse. “The algorithm has saturated many things, and made many once beautiful things quite mundane and hollow. Couldn’t it be beautiful to explore something new, unique, something that walks its own path?” 

To participate in EBiT’s open casting call, email contact@enjoybeingintransition.com.