The Social Force of "Madhappy" and "The Mayfair Group"

Launched in 2017, Madhappy was built as an inclusive community “to build a more

optimistic world.” Their brand centers around content first and foremost, then experiences, and

also products. Madhappy is one of many high-end, trendy loungewear brands that use unique

social media marketing to advocate for mental health. Their designs don’t only create

recognizable brand appeal to their products, but they also create a larger sense of community and

wish-fulfillment among their “do-good” social advocate customers. The Local Optimist, the

Madhappy blog website, has a homepage that reads: “There are so many ways to get involved in

the mental health community. This is our starter guide for joining the movement.” Madhappy, an

online-focused brand with a small HQ in LA, has expanded from not only clothing sales but a

larger brand that includes the “Local Optimist.” The Local Optimist platform supports not only

volunteering, but also community engagement, education, personal storytelling, and mental

health fundraising. In the “About Madhappy” section of the Local Optimist platform, their

mission is stated as “creat[ing] conversation around mental health” and their call-to-action is

“join us as we raise awareness, educate, provide resources and uplift each other.” Their resources

include mental health programming, events like meditation classes, partnerships with

foundations like Happy Not Perfect, and mental health professionals for Madhappy supporters.

Madhappy not only sells merchandise, but they sell a lifestyle and a social movement.

In Simon’s “Everything but the Coffee,” he describes how Starbucks is the product of

large powerful social forces combined with lots of dull choices (Simon 5). In the United States,

during times of losing faith in other social forces, many consumers cling to expressing

themselves through what they buy (245). In Madhappy’s case, its popularity peaked during the

2021-21 pandemic. Just as Simon describes brand appeal, Madhappy also has a consumer base

that feels understood by their mental health messaging and responds well to the brand marketing

of the Madhappy logo (131). As humans, we tend to determine a product’s worth based on

how we believe it fits our desires or “needs,” such as comfort, individuality, belonging, or

social standing (6). Simon describes this sense of wish fulfillment as a “sliding scale.” The

more an item fulfills our wish fulfillment, the more we are willing to pay for it, with the “utility”

being the lowest priority and the status and esteem at the top of our priorities (7). For example,

we pay more for products that give us a sense of an “emotional left” and allow us to express

something about ourselves that lets us feel seen and distinguished from others.

In Belk’s “Extended Self,” he describes the notion of possessions performing a

symbolic extended self that can function as a uniform or trophy and allows us to convince

ourselves that can be a different person than we would be without them (Belk 145). In

addition, others can impact how we interpret our possessions through how they mirror who we

are. Objects can invoke “obligations of hierarchy in gift-giving” and “signal changes in the self”

thus demonstrated through how one can outgrow a toy, or in Madhappy’s case, older loungewear

trends. Just as the trends change in the fashion industry, a Gen Z and millennial consumer’s sense

of wish-fulfillment and the hierarchy of gift-giving changes (158). In Madhappy’s case, it

provides both a do-good sense of fulfillment as well as the esteem of “being trendy yet

comfortable” that consumers look for in loungewear in today’s work-from-home era. Whereas

the iPod used to be the “I got to have it” item, a Madhappy hoodie or crewneck became this same

“got to have it” piece of loungewear from 2020 to the present day as a “status symbol” that

became recognizable. It allows consumers to portray themselves “as they want to be seen” and a

form of “cultural shorthand” as a way to be viewed as a fashion-forward millennial or Gen Z

consumer. The cost ranges from $125-195 for an oversized crewneck made from 100% combed

cotton with a simplistic style “Madhappy” front print depending on the collection. If a consumer

knows about the Madhappy brand, they also know its material value and the items thus

symbolize a form of status both through fashion trends and economic value. Being a brand that

has a do-good “be optimistic” logo, advocates for mental health, has a fashion-forward appeal, as

well as serving as a status symbol, all culminate to drive the social force that makes Madhappy,

as well as other high-end loungewear, a popular brand.

Madhappy (The Local Optimist) is just one of many newer loungewear brands that

emerged as trending during the 2020-21 quarantine period. Another high-end loungewear

company that has built its own broader “lifestyle” branding (known as #MayfairWorld) is The

Mayfair Group. Similar to Madhappy, The Mayfair Group’s mission is to “not just make you

look good, but help you FEEL good.” They say, “Join the movement. The future is all of ours to

build” on their website. Not only are they a clothing brand, but a movement for consumers to

join. They seek to build an “internet happy place” through “purposeful, feel-good content” as

well as a welcoming digital community surrounded by the values of vulnerability, empathy, and

authenticity (The Mayfair Group). Both Madhappy and The Mayfair Group create a brand

encompassed by the values of being a safe space (outside of just merchandise), and also sparking

conversations among consumers. The sense of community and unique social media content they

both create along with their recognizable merchandise culminates to generate a strong sense of

brand loyalty and a consumer-brand bond. In addition, The Mayfair Group’s sizing is only “one

size” which would typically fit like an XL or XXL at other clothing stores, and they state that

their brand is an “all-inclusive, body-positive merchandise brand. On the other hand,

Madhappy’s clothing is typically an oversized fit and sizing ranges from XS-XL. Whereas the

Madhappy clothing is much more logo-focused with the “Madhappy” featured in different fonts

dependent on the collection, The Mayfair Group has lounge sets with unique designs dependent

on the campaign’s mission. Campaigns have ranged from: “Compassion,” “It Costs $0 To Be A

Nice Person,” “Your Emotions Are Valid,” and more. In a recent brand partnership with Netflix

Queue, Mayfair dropped a collection called “You Are My Favorite Season.” In their Instagram

stories, they explain the meaning is to “empower the youth... [to] evoke meaningful

conversations and [write] their own narrative.” As discussed in Fournier, this style of messaging

creates a personal connection between the brand and its consumer, which maintains Mayfair’s

status as a trending, social advocate loungewear brand for today’s youth.

According to Fournier, consumers have relationships with brands similar to the

relationships of courtships, flings, best friendships, committed partnerships, and more. As a

result of this wide range of relationships, one’s relationship quality with a brand becomes more

than just the liking of a product. Strong relationship partners have a reciprocal exchange, are

purposive with meaning, are multiplex phenomena, and evolve/change over time (Fournier

344). Do-good branding of high-end loungewear like The Mayfair Group creates a sense of not

only self-concept connection but also partner quality with their Gen Z and millennial consumers.

On The Mayfair Group’s Instagram page, they feature different in-feed campaign drop

photoshoots as well as Instagram stories that explain the meaning behind the design of a piece of

merchandise (ex: Somebody loves you crewneck, priced at $128). When they aren’t posting

merchandise drops, they often post inspirational quotes with a unique graphic design like

“Forgive yourself for ignoring the red flags” or “Your emotions are welcome here.” Not only is

Mayfair successful in creating a sense of community and safe space through their brand

marketing, but they also make the consumer feel as if they’re a part of the conception and

success of a campaign. If a campaign doesn’t reach a certain level of success, it is a part of a

“limited time” campaign offer and will not be restocked on Mayfair’s website, however, if

consumers bring enough popularity, then the items are restocked for a “certain period of time.”

This element of “limited time” scarcity as well as the high-quality material (51% Cotton and

48% Polyester) and high-cost that is associated with the “status symbol” of a Mayfair lounge set

creates a clear in-group of those who recognize the apparel/brand loyalty versus those who don’t.

Do-good loungewear companies like Madhappy and The Mayfair Group both market

toward similar audiences: the trend-setting, culturally-conscious, mental-health advocate Gen Z

or millennial consumer. They are consumers that want to make an impact on the conversation

surrounding mental health and believe they can do so through cultural symbols like fashion.

They also want to appear “in sync” with the trends of today yet also look relaxed in loungewear.

The everyday consumer doesn’t find this loungewear worthy of the price unless they know the

significance of the social impact associated with the brands as well as the social clout that these

brands hold in the modern fashion industry toward the Gen Z and millennial consumer audience.

In Simon’s book, he discusses how “Starbucks promised endless choices

and individualism” as well as a “casual sense of belonging” (Simon 95). Just as Starbucks

delivers the “Starbucks experience,” both Madhappy and The Mayfair Group deliver this

experience when one scrolls on their Instagram pages, views their websites, and receives their

merchandise in the mail. Mayfair delivers their hoodies with a card encouraging consumers to

post a #MayfairWorld Instagram to show brand loyalty. When one buys this do-good loungewear

merchandise, they are not only flexing a $150+ status symbol but also demonstrating their own

cultural beliefs and mental health advocacy. These consumers adopt the brand themselves.

Works Cited

Belk, Russell W. “Possessions and the Extended Self.” Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 15,

no. 2, 1988, p. 139., doi:10.1086/209154.

Fournier, Susan. “Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer

Research.” Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 24, no. 4, 1998, pp. 343–353.,

doi:10.1086/209515.

Madhappy. “The Local Optimist.” About | The Local Optimist, www.localoptimist.com/about.

Madhappy. “@Madhappy.” Instagram.com, https://www.instagram.com/madhappy/?hl=en

Simon, Bryant. Everything but the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks. Univ of

California Pr, 2011.

The Mayfair Group. “@Themayfairgroup.” Instagram.com,

www.instagram.com/themayfairgroup/?hl=en.

The Mayfair Group. “Who the F*CK We Are.” The Mayfair Group LLC,

themayfairgroupllc.com/pages/about.