A Sea of Change for the Fashion Industry

  

The high street and online shopping world is currently drowning in fast fashion aimed at young consumers and why wouldn’t it be? This demographic is fashion conscious and loves on-trend apparel at low prices. According to a Mintel Womenswear report (2016) “Young women drive fashion purchasing; 63% of 16-24-year-olds have bought outerwear within the last three months and almost half (48%) have bought footwear and this consumer is more likely to prioritise low prices.”

These types of stats are what drives fast fashion retailers such as H&M, New Look and Topshop to aim their collections, advertising campaigns and promotions at a younger generation.

But what about the mature shopper? Don’t they deserve on-trend, stylish clothing and to be included in the world of fashion?

My final major project at university consisted of creating a timeless knitwear collection for the over 50’s women for a middle market high-street retailer. This decision was made due to an increased gap in the market that needed to be addressed.

Research brought to my attention the limited offerings there is for the fashion conscious mature consumer. Marks and Spencer, Hobbs, Jigsaw and Jaeger are all brands targeting an older market but somehow their collections were aging and boring. This growing demographic has the potential to be a profitable alternative to the price-driven and less brand-loyal youth and somehow this opportunity was being missed by many popular high-street retailers.

“The over-55s is set to be the fastest growing demographic over the next five years, driving spending among older women represents an opportunity for womenswear. The research finds more stylish clothing for their age and greater availability of clothes in larger sizes as key issues older women would like to see resolved.” (Mintel, 2016)

Since carrying out this research, I have noted a sea of change happening within the fashion industry, after many years of signing teenagers to promote their wares, brands are catching on that customers with money to spend – older women – want to see models with life experience in campaigns and editorials.

The latest crop of fashion weeks saw designers Dries Van Noten and Simone Rocha casting older models to walk their shows. This past season designers have made a distinct effort to be more diverse in their casting, using more non-white models, as well as older and non-professional models. Jan de Villeneuve, 72 who was photographed for the cover of The Telegraph’s Stella magazine last month adds “Life doesn’t end when you start getting a pension…...Older women love fashion too. I’ve always thought it would be nice if people of all ages, shapes and sizes were included because that’s more relevant to day-to-day life.” (Telegraph Online, 2017)

In recent weeks fashion publications, Elle UK, Porter and Sunday Times Style have all covered this topic. Personally, I'm excited by diversity within an industry that sometimes feels generic and mainstream. 

Ph credit - The Sunday Times and Vogue