Why more high-street brands need to embrace midlife women

In the business of fashion, the long-accepted wisdom is that youth sells, regardless of your target demographic. 

Maggie Smith for Loewe, Mary Berry for Burberry, Catherine Deneuve for Saint Laurent, even 50-year-old Laura Ponte, as the face of Phoebe Philo, all suggest that the dial is moving at the luxury end of the market in terms of seeing older women as inspiring, rather than off putting. Of course, we love to see it.

When I see a brand featuring an older woman, this internal “hell yes” goes off within me, I genuinely think, god she looks cool.

However, mainstream high-street fashion brands have been slower to catch on. For some, it’s as if no women over 30 exist. Others might include the odd woman who remembers when Smells Like Teen Spirit was released, but those brands’ vague attempts to appeal to everyone end up appealing to no one.

Above: Laura Ponte, Maggie Smith, Mary Berry. 

I’m grateful that as part of the creative team at House 337, I’ve had a chance to work on a clothing retailer like JD Williams, which has a completely different attitude – most recently demonstrated in its spring/summer 2024 campaign Admit it, this age thing suits you, which we created in close collaboration with Head of Marketing, Esme Stone, and her team at JD Williams.

The work doesn’t just include one or two older women, stuck in the background as the young ’uns strut their stuff. All the models are middle-aged, and there’s a mix of sizes and ethnicities. We see taut, dimpled, and wrinkled skin and grey, dyed, and natural hair.

The more I see it, without any words to go with it, the more I believe it, the more my own thoughts on my own ageing started to re-route.

This lack of age inclusivity does make it easy for us to create campaigns that really stand out. But I would love it if that weren’t the case.

When I see a brand featuring an older woman, this internal “hell yes” goes off within me. I genuinely think, god she looks cool, my mindset towards my own ageing shifts to a more and more positive space. The more I see it, without any words to go with it, the more I believe it, and the more my own thoughts on my own ageing started to re-route. I can only imagine that effect is even greater for women who “aged out” of representation a decade or more ago.

Above: JD Williams spring/summer 2024 campaign Admit it, this age thing suits you, by House337. 

So, what is it that’s holding brands back?

I think one issue is that everyone's comfortable portraying 20-somethings in that stereotypical young, free, anything-goes way, but the societal stereotypes around midlife women need to be challenged and now is the time to break free from being pedalled the way they have been for the high-street fashion sector for so long. 

In a world where 10-year-olds are damaging their skin by using anti-ageing products, changing perceptions about getting older really is a pressing issue.

I’d also argue that some of the hesitation comes from a lack of representation within creative teams themselves, as our industry has historically made it difficult for mothers to continue their careers, meaning midlife women creatives are few and far between.

Then there’s the issue of ageism in the fashion industry, which, after all, has thrived for decades on newness. No wonder there’s a paucity of older women on the books of modelling agencies, and that the few who do get representation are almost always slim, white and very well-preserved.

Above: Dove's 10 v 10 campaign highlighted how girls as young as ten are using anti-ageing products. 

In a world where 10-year-olds are damaging their skin by using anti-ageing products, changing perceptions about getting older really is a pressing issue.

 If an ad makes someone think twice about covering up, and instead confidently wearing a bikini, we’re heading in the right direction

While it’s probably too late to get the talented women who quit in their 30s over the past two decades to come back to adland, it’s great that parental support is now on the business agenda. But in the more immediate future, how about high-street brands embrace street casting for midlife women – and drop this idea that models are nothing more than voiceless, opinion-less human coat hangers by drawing on their rich, diverse life stories to create authentic and relatable campaigns?

We could also commit to marketing clothes in ways that embolden women: if an ad makes someone think twice about covering up, and instead confidently wearing a bikini, we’re heading in the right direction.