Diversity in terms of race, gender, and size have all served its time in the spotlight, but progress has been slow. Not to mention the most ignored and obvious of all -- age. We need to talk about fashion’s ageism problem. Fashion is a fantasy, but it is also a representation of cultural ideals. In this fantasy then, models are muses -- so what does it mean when the source of inspiration excludes anyone old enough to have a wrinkle? Youth is the new standard of beauty on the runway and beyond. Dior Haute Couture’s Fall 2015 opener, Sophia Mechetner, was only 14 years old at the time of her debut. Fashion’s never-ending pursuit of the newest and coolest extends into the search for models, who are usually not that much older than Mechetner. Pricey designer wares are modeled by girls between the narrow window of 16 to 26, despite the fact that most female luxury wear consumers are nearly twice their age. The issue extends beyond catwalks. Models in their 20s serve as spokeswomen for anti-aging creams. Magazines ignore the existence of older women in their editorials, besides the occasional features of the age-defying celebrity -- Julianne Moore or Cate Blanchett. It seems as if time has stopped at 26 in the fashion world. On one hand, fashion constantly caters to the youth; on the other, it remains firmly in the power of the mature. Designers like Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani, each in his early 80s, Ralph Lauren (75), and Donna Karan (66) still hold immense influence in the fashion world. Even for an industry that has made something of an art form of contradiction (loving both pelts and pets, for example), this is hard to reconcile. Fashion presents its ideals in one way or another, and if those don’t include the women representative of the ones who are buying the clothes, it’s a real problem. Why not show women inspiration that they can believe in? Aging gracefully and stylishly is definitely something to aspire to. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/style/fashions-two-faced-relationship-with-age.html?_r=0
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1/29/2022 07:30:42 am
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