After decades of willowy white teens modelling clothing and accessories the average 18 year old can ill afford there seems to have been a small shift in fashion advertising. Now the octogenarian Joan Didion can be seen posing (or...just sitting) in sunglasses for the fashion label Celine and now at 71 years old Joni Mitchell has been revealed as the face of Yves Saint Laurent Music Project campaign. The choice of both models make sense. Didion can most likely afford and definitely suit a Celine outfit. Joni Mitchell makes music. The signing of these women causes a suitably flattering ruckus because they are old but also chic and therefore we are allowed to aspire to them. How good of these companies to employ not just older, but old women, aren't they brave? Now as women we know that we can get old. Thanks for the permission.
Now it truly is great that within days of each other two big advertising campaigns have used old women as models. Whatever you may think of advertising, the fashion industry or Big Yellow Taxi the two campaigns are important for the visibility of older women in a way that M&S isn't. It is, ultimately, an endorsement. Not of Celine or YSL but of ageing women.
For those who are white, financially stable and slim a small battle has been won for you. This is good. But rather like eccentricity is only for rich people, age might be reserved for white influential people. So it's good for someone like me who is cis, middle class and white but what does it mean for other women? What are their options when they look to advertising?
For those who are white, financially stable and slim a small battle has been won for you. This is good. But rather like eccentricity is only for rich people, age might be reserved for white influential people. So it's good for someone like me who is cis, middle class and white but what does it mean for other women? What are their options when they look to advertising?
| Well you could try being dead and leaving a good looking corpse. Turn on the TV (or sit through the adverts on 4OD and Demand5 et al instead of checking your Facebook) and you will spot Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe still shilling for various companies. | Who knew taxes remained a certainty after death and that some famous women seemingly have to carry on working long after their punctuality has waned. |
Who knew taxes remained a certainty after death and that some of our most famous women seemingly have to carry on working long after their script reading capabilities ceased and their punctuality waned.
In spite of death making stars...hm...differently abled it also makes them the ultimate fashion icon. Ageless, they say what you want them to say and they will never go off message. Unless they have a troublesome family who question the morality of reanimating their dead relative to sell chocolate or perfume that in life they never mentioned.
Which is where the importance of using older women comes back in. While a dead woman or young woman are thought of as more attractive to use because they are perhaps more malleable and more likely to have active Instagram and Twitter accounts (yes) an older woman is a risk not just because we worship youth but because this creates a presence for older women who speak out and don't take shit. And that includes the myth they can only buy clothes from M&S.
Squeamish Kate
In spite of death making stars...hm...differently abled it also makes them the ultimate fashion icon. Ageless, they say what you want them to say and they will never go off message. Unless they have a troublesome family who question the morality of reanimating their dead relative to sell chocolate or perfume that in life they never mentioned.
Which is where the importance of using older women comes back in. While a dead woman or young woman are thought of as more attractive to use because they are perhaps more malleable and more likely to have active Instagram and Twitter accounts (yes) an older woman is a risk not just because we worship youth but because this creates a presence for older women who speak out and don't take shit. And that includes the myth they can only buy clothes from M&S.
Squeamish Kate
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