Age Is Beauty

Has it always been necessary to use twenty-year-old models in our fashion ad campaigns? I’m casting my mind back to the time I first saw the controversial Calvin Klein ad that featured 15-year-old Brooke Shields. She rocked and rolled across the screen, twisting her legs into the most unusual of positions, something surely only girls of her age could do (or die hard yoga fanatics). It made me think, why was a 15 year old being used to advertise fashion? I’m not saying everyone does this (Viyella, Westwood and Debenhams have all featured glamorous women over the age of 40) but the majority of adverts promote young beauties, because nowadays, youth is admirable.

Recently Mary Portas launched her debut store in House of Fraser, and admiringly she took a step away from the youthful advertising tactics so many brands rely on, and worked with a group of women who had soared to modelling fame in the 1980’s.

It felt good to see women of all ages being beautifully represented in fashion today, and it made me wonder, will this be something we will be seeing more of in 2012?