Is the youth-obsessed fashion industry inclusive of age?

While fashion may find representation in the youth visually, commercially it’s the older consumer who holds the card

The topic of age is a controversial one, especially in industries like fashion and beauty that are, more often than not, fixated with the idea of youth. Most campaigns or magazines feature younger models. Occasionally, the industry has included older women in their ad campaigns and runways, notably author Joan Didion (80 at the time) for Celine (2015) or Italian actress Benedetta Barzini (73) and model Jan Ward de Villeneuve (69) walking for Simone Rocha at the London Fashion Week in 2017.

A 2016 survey revealed that mature women feel overlooked within the predominantly youth-oriented world of fashion. “Fashion has been designed to appeal to a very young sensibility, even though the people spending the money are much older, because you’re creating aspirational desire,” says Ekta Rajani, a stylist, creative consultant and former fashion editor of Grazia India magazine.

Inclusivity and the power of middle-aged consumer

In the last few years, the push towards diversity has allowed the fashion industry to become more inclusive. “When I started my label [in 2011], the first catalogue I shot was with a real person who was middle-aged, like me. It was shot at home where she went about doing things a person would normally do at home,” says Rina Singh, founder and designer of clothing label Eká. “It was more of a documentary of relevance that fashion provided as a functional commodity, rather than it just being some trend,” Singh explains.

Singh is an anomaly—most editorials and ad campaigns continue to highlight the younger generation, but it’s not happenstance. “An older customer usually has a well-defined personal style and brand preferences,” says Archana Jain, managing director and CEO of PR Pundit, a public relations agency that represents both international and Indian brands. Brands not only know this, explains Jain, they “wish to influence people when they are younger to adapt to their style early.”

But it’s a catch-22 situation. The one 20- or 30-year-old buyer, shares Tina Tahiliani Parikh, executive director of Ensemble, is usually a to-be-bride. “When you look at who the real customers are, who have deep pockets, it’s women between the ages of 35 and 55. Designers are now extremely aware of the fact that it’s the older women who are really their clients,” she says.

The influencer economy

Social media platforms have become a playground for Gen Zers and millennials to experiment and express themselves, and the fashion industry has taken advantage of this. In a 2019 analysis by Statista of more than three million Instagram #ad posts done to determine the demographics of influencers, 31 per cent of influencers creating sponsored posts on Instagram were between the ages of 18 and 24. That’s not to say there aren’t older users on social media. A 2022report says that 13 per cent of Instagram’s audience is aged over 45. But this is changing as a niche group of influencers have emerged on social media platforms, like 57-year-old content creator Grece Ghanem who has more than 760,000 followers as opposed to her 22-year-old daughter who has about 3,600. At 68 years, Lyn Slater, also known as Accidental Icon, has more than 759,000 followers on Instagram.

Meanwhile, closer home, 63-year-old Bollywood actress Neeta Kapoor, with 1.5 million followers, was recently spotted in a concept sari by designer Shweta Kapur, and lauded for her sartorial choice. While it’s only a matter of time till we see more older content creators on social media platforms, Rajani believes that many middle-aged consumers [especially in India] don’t even realise that they are under-represented. “What I see around me, whether it’s my mother or my aunt, is that everyone likes to dress up. I’m not even sure that they think about the fact that they are under-represented in the industry, as they don’t look at the industry as a benchmark to influence them,” she says.

There’s an assumption that mature women resign themselves to a wardrobe of traditional wear or kurtis. But whatever your style is, the key to looking good is to pay attention to what makes you feel confident. “We are fortunate to be in a country where there is less prejudice when it comes to size and shape in fashion since a lot of our garments are loosely cut and adaptable to any age and size, whether it’s a sari or a salwar suit,” says Srimoyi Bhattacharya, author and co-founder of Peepul Consultancy—a public relations agency that represents designers and brands like Tarun Tahiliani, Tory Burch and Swarovski.

Singh believes that while the issues of inclusivity and diversity have been akin to a wake-up call for the fashion industry, it’s not a trend she’d personally subscribe to. “For me, age in particular has got nothing to do with how you feel about yourself in a particular piece of clothing. I used to dress like a granny when I was younger and not much has changed after all these years, because my style and my aesthetics are driven by my soul and not by any trends,” she says.

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