Stacy London, 56, Says She's the 'Happiest I've Ever Been in My Life': 'I Don't Have Time for Regret'

Stacy London feels like her 50s might be her best era yet!

"I am almost 57 years old, and I'm probably the happiest I've ever been in my life — and that is because of everything I've dealt with throughout my life," the fashion guru exclusively tells OK! while talking about AbbVie’s PSO Done Campaign, which encourages people living with psoriasis to reflect on how their symptoms are being managed and to have transparent conversations with their dermatologist about their care.

"I mean, you age, or you die, it's one or the other, and I really thought about how much you start to think about mortality differently — and I don't mean this in any morbid kind of way. It makes time so much more valuable, and I don't have time for regret. I don't have time," she states. "I want progress. I want evolution. I want joy. I want inspiration, and so those are things for me to be able to do. It means that things need to keep changing. They can't stay the same. I can't stay inspired by looking at the same thing or being the same person. So it's about learning and growing more, hopefully."

Now, London is speaking out about her psoriasis, which affects more than 8 million Americans, with plaque psoriasis accounting for the vast majority of cases. Despite how common it is, many people still normalize ongoing symptoms like itching, irritation and flare-ups — adjusting their routines without realizing how much those symptoms are impacting their daily lives.

With AbbVie’s PSO Done Campaign, she wants others to know they aren't alone.

"I want to do this and grow old with a group of people who are kind, caring and really understand each other. With the PSO Done Campaign, I'm so done with kind of keeping things a secret. I think with Gen X, we are really in some ways trying to take the shame out of a lot of things that we used to keep secret, and I couldn't be happier about that because fewer secrets, fewer problems," she shares.

The TV personality was diagnosed at the age of 3. "I think that being affected by it so young, it's really something that I grew up with trying to manage and understand on my own," she states. "When I was very young, I was completely covered in scales from my neck down. For years, I wore white turtlenecks and long pants because my scalp was so thick with psoriasis that I had like dandruff. I didn't want anybody to see. I couldn't wear dark colors. There were a lot of things that I think made me feel self-conscious. You also have to explain that this is not an infectious disease and that you know it's autoimmune. But what's so interesting is that I think that that kind of self-consciousness really led me to look for tools to combat — and fashion was one of them."

"So in a way, I really connect what I experienced with my own psoriasis to my desire to kind of conquer my self-consciousness. Growing up, I thought I was the only person in the world who had this disease," she continues. "At a retirement community, I met a man who was about 85 or 86 who had psoriasis, and I was like, 'Great, my only friend who's going to die soon. Fantastic.' So, the PSO Done campaign itself is so important because of the idea — talk to your dermatologist, make sure that there are new ways for you to manage this condition, which has changed significantly in 54 years. It's really important to me because the more we talk about something, the less self-conscious you can be about it. And really, that's at the bottom of everything I do in fashion and in advocacy. It's being comfortable with who you are and that kind of acceptance that comes from being able to love even the things that may be hard to love about yourself."

London isn't the only celebrity to discuss the chronic, systemic inflammatory condition, as Kim Kardashian, Cara Delevingne, LeAnn Rimes and more have been open about their experiences.

"The more we talk, the more you come up with a customized plan with your own doctor, the happier you're going to be and the more confident you're going to be," London says. "I can't wait to see how people respond to the campaign publicly, because really, again, I think, you know, this idea of sharing is caring is actually quite important."

"Psoriasis is a part of me. It is a part of me, but it is not all of me, and for a long time, it was very hard for me to look at myself despite the psoriasis. And then when I really accepted it, then it just became an attribute," she adds. "There is so much peace in my sense of acceptance with that, that that has really brought me out to talk about it, right? I want everybody to experience that feeling."

The What Not to Wear alum and her friend Nitika Chopra, founder of Chronicon for AbbVie’s PSO Done Campaign, want people to know "you belong here just as you are."

"You don't have to be boastful, and it doesn't mean you have to have a huge ego," she says.

For now, London is basking in this season of life. "I am so interested in learning new things, in going to new places; I don't have the same cadence to my career that I did when I was younger. I used to work all the time and never stopped, and now I'm much more interested in work-life balance, and that's also been very good for my stress levels, which is great for my psoriasis!" she concludes.