So HOT RIGHT NOW REBRANDING MENOPAUSE

Ageing is in, and A-list gen Xers are making bank on midlife health. But can Hollywood really give menopause a makeover? Vivian Manning-Schaffel finds out

- Vivian Manning-Schaffel

In October last year, against an Instagrammable background of autumnal floral arrangements, Australian actor Naomi Watts (pictured opposite) introduced The New Pause, the inaugural menopause symposium in New York. As founder and chief creative officer of Stripes, a brand promising “menopause solutions from scalp to vag”, Watts was there with Alisa Volkman, co-founder and CEO of The Swell, a “fast-growing community for the 40-plus that is hellbent on reimagining how we age”.

US media personality Katie Couric, who is 66 and past menopause, introduced a series of doctors, scientists, writers, thinkers and a fitness expert. Humorist and actor Jill Kargman took the stage to rev things up. For $US150 ($220), participants could hear the latest, greatest information on how menopause impacts women’s health while a fuck yeah! vibe permeated the room.

The menopause-wellness space is poised for its moment in the spotlight, with Watts’ symposium part of an ever-lengthening string of gen-X-celeb-led business endeavours aiming to help change “the change.” A few days after The New Pause event, State of Menopause CEO and former What Not to Wear reality television host Stacy London gathered a selection of thought leaders in a ress-facing brain dump about the burgeoning industry for The CEO Menopause Summit. Burgeoning it certainly seems to be; according to a recent trend report from the Global Wellness Summit, the business of menopause is projected to be a $US600 billion market by 2025.