Remember a few weeks back when I commented on the fact the Guardian Weekend magazine has started to use women from a broad age range in their editorials and this includes women over 60? Well this is what I meant……
Guardian Weekend 27/06/09
Guardian Weekend 20/06/09
Guardian Weekend 13/06/09
Yes they are all still under a size 14 but that’s not the point. The focus is on the fact that slowly the tide is turning and fashion is becoming more inclusive both regarding larger clothing sizes and older women. It makes sense. I was recently on a long train journey and had a pile of fashion magazines on the table in front of me to wile away the time and it sparked the interest of the woman sitting opposite. I would guess that she was in her late sixties and approx a size 10/12. We struck up a conversation wherein she started to vent about the difficulty she has finding suitable clothes for her age group that are both fashionable and age appropriate. The lady told me that she felt like retailers just don’t want her money because they think she is too old to be interested in fashion and while she was aware that shes older than the Topshop crowd she still wants to look current.
Sound familiar?
Fashion is obsessed by youth and thinness so its a welcome relief to see that there is at least one new designer prepared to buck the trend of catering only to younger people and create a collection aimed at the 60+ market.
The designer is Fanny Karst and she’s a 25 year old designer who has noticed a gap in the market for fashion forward clothing for older women and so created the label, Old Ladies’ Rebellion to address this customer. Her creations aren’t cheap and dresses cost £500- 600 so are for the more well heeled older woman, but I love what she’s doing and would wear many of these items myself. My favourites are the Pippi Longstocking- esque tights detailed dress, and the dress with the gloved hand at the hip. Smart and witty. Why should the youngin’s have all the fun?
15 Comments
July 9, 2009 at 12:06 am
oohh i love this. i have to say, i love the outfits in the spread much more than the fanny kearst line. its probably because of the styling.
July 9, 2009 at 7:47 pm
I’ll scan some more in the weeks to come.
July 9, 2009 at 1:20 am
I want to re-create every outfit in The Guardian Weekend photos and I want all the dresses in the Old Ladies’ Rebellion collection!
July 9, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Same here. Thats one of the first pages I turn to every week.
July 9, 2009 at 5:27 am
An Australian brand, Country Road, recently launched an line called Trenery that caters to older women.
These are pictures of the launch: http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/executive-style/style/country-road-launches-new-line/20090611-c4i8.html?selectedImage=1
Notice the complete lack of the older women on the runway. So daft.
July 9, 2009 at 7:44 pm
That makes no sense. Isn’t the whole idea to sell your clothes to your target market? If your target market doesn’t believe you think enough of them to to put them on your catwalk why should they give you their money? And how are they supposed to know what the clothes might look like on them? No sense.
July 9, 2009 at 5:44 am
Now, this is smart! I am into showing clothing lines on people of differnt ages, sizes, races. After all, these are the people who buy my designs. They SHOULD be represented by designers, magazines, runways, et al. I just keep doing my part by designing swimwear for plus sizes.
July 9, 2009 at 7:41 pm
oh yes, don’t stop now!
July 9, 2009 at 11:50 pm
I love that dress with the “Let’s begin with the end” on it. I would totally wear that. Also, the dress/jacket in blue with the white glove reaching around the side. That’s just brilliant. I love it.
July 10, 2009 at 4:34 am
i’m curious as to what “the difficulty she has finding suitable clothes for her age group” means … what does she find (un)suitable?
one thing i notice from looking at the dresses is that they have higher necklines and lower hems… though i don’t know if that’s about the target audience’s age or the designer’s taste.
i’ve often shopped lines targeted at older women (e.g. eileen fisher or sigrid olsen) because the sizing is more generous and the necklines are higher.
July 10, 2009 at 8:56 am
I think she might have meant that clothes aimed at her age group aren’t as fashion forward as she might like and quite “safe” stylistically so not unsuitable as such, just not to her taste.
I’ve read that Fanny Karst liaises with her target market while designing the line so I would imagine she was probably advised to make the necklines higher and the hemlines longer for the majority of the range but I did see one skirt that is above the knee. Not sure if its from a current collection or past collection-
http://www.oldladiesrebellion.com/show_2009_7.html
July 22, 2009 at 8:16 am
This is fantastic! Doesn’t she look brilliant!?
I think the designer is really onto something.
x
August 6, 2009 at 6:09 pm
FYI, if your readers might be interested. Eileen Fisher is having an online sample sale this Saturday 8/8 of their entire collection, including their plus sized range! Register to shop here: http://www.ideeli.com/invite/msfabulous1
September 4, 2009 at 5:21 am
Just found a blog that reminded me of this post: http://advancedstyle.blogspot.com/
I hope I’m as fabulous as them when I’m old and wrinkly.
September 4, 2009 at 10:43 am
I LOVE that blog and I’m sure we will both still look fantastic when we’re in our 80s!