Do you think there is a certain age when a person is considered to be at their “best"? Or let me ask the question more specifically: Is there an age when women are considered “better"? For example, are women supposedly at their “best” only until they turn 30?
I’m sure you’re wondering, “Where did these questions come from, Idil?” But after all, our subject is fashion, and in the fashion world, women have generally been treated as if they disappear after their 20s.
When you looked at runways for years, you could easily think that all women in the world were over 1.75 meters tall, size 34, blonde and blue-eyed. Those were the only kinds of women represented on the catwalk, and it almost created the illusion that the entire human race had those physical features.
Then, over time, young women with different skin tones and from different ethnic backgrounds began appearing on runways. About 10 years ago, with the rise of the “body positivity” trend, even curvy women started walking in fashion shows.
In the end, the fashion world accepted that young women could exist in a wide range of appearances, body types and styles. After all, they were still young. They were interested in fashion and looking attractive. They wanted attention, wanted to make other women jealous, impress the opposite sex and build families. In short, what mattered most was that they were young. The fashion industry managed to convince itself of this much – entirely for “emotional reasons.”
However, the industry still could not tolerate women getting older.
Just think about it: When Victoria’s Secret models in their mid-30s or approaching their 40s walked the runway in lingerie, it caused enormous public attention, as if it were shocking that they were still “fit” to walk on a runway.
The fashion industry simply did not believe that women in their 30s could still possess beauty, physical attractiveness, charm, aura – whatever you want to call it.
And then the pandemic happened.
During the lockdown period, everyone’s physical appearance changed. Massive layoffs took place, companies shut down, and over time, wars in different parts of the world, economic crises and even the reality of artificial intelligence were added to the equation.
While the world was being dragged from one trauma to another, something unexpected happened: the younger generation no longer wanted to spend money on brands and fashion. Instead, they wanted new experiences and travel. For them, second-hand and vintage stores were more than enough.
In short, the younger generation – the very group expected to be obsessed with fashion and luxury brands – deeply disappointed the fashion industry.
The luxury and fashion worlds urgently needed new target audiences without damaging their image.
And this is exactly why, after the pandemic, the fashion industry suddenly turned back toward older women, the same women it had excluded for years with assumptions like:
“She already has an established style.”
“She’s satisfied with what she already owns.”
“She probably doesn’t shop much anymore.”
“Her body is no longer in its old shape – what could she comfortably wear anyway?”
Suddenly, these women became consumers worth selling products to.
After all, they had once been interested in fashion when they were younger, hadn’t they?
But attracting this new audience required effort. They were harder to convince. Life may have already diminished many of their desires, curiosities and motivations to spend money on themselves. Besides, were their faces and bodies even considered suitable for fashion anymore?
You can probably follow where this is going.
Aesthetics, longevity culture, healthy living and yoga helped these women stay fit. The industry knew they could not be expected to follow trends as quickly as younger generations, so fashion suddenly decided to revive the 2010s, the 2000s, the 1990s, the 1980s, the 1970s and even the 1960s all at the same time.
Fashion history has always been used to trends returning every 20 years or so, but seeing so many decades become popular simultaneously was unusual.
Then brands began choosing women over 50 as the faces of campaigns.
We started seeing them in advertisements.
They started walking on runways.
British model Kate Moss, the star of the 1990s, caused a major sensation in mid-February when she closed Demna’s first Gucci runway show wearing a sparkling, backless, body-hugging dress at the age of 52.
Another British fashion icon from the 1960s, Twiggy, now 76 years old, was chosen by Burberry as the face of its Spring/Summer 2026 campaign.
At the end of January, 50-year-old gray-haired model Stephanie Cavalli opened Chanel’s Haute Couture show, creating a striking impression for Matthieu Blazy.
Women in their 50s and 60s also began receiving invitations to fashion shows.
63-year-old Demi Moore attended Gucci in a full leather look.
67-year-old Andie MacDowell appeared at Armani with an age-appropriate gray hairstyle.
And 67-year-old Michelle Pfeiffer attended the Saint Laurent show as a surprise guest.
Within the last two years, 100% of the 20 most popular luxury brands have used older models.
In an industry famous for glorifying youth, this is a dramatic shift – though, as we said, one based entirely on “emotional reasons.”
We all know that nearly all luxury brands belong under the umbrellas of two giant luxury groups: LVMH and Kering.
Considering the difficult financial situation these luxury giants are facing and their efforts to increase sales, this transformation becomes even more striking.
Former model Romae Gordon, who is now 52 and returned to the runway a year ago, explains it clearly: “There’s a practical reality agencies and the industry have to face: that older women have the purchasing power to buy what is being presented and they have a desire to see themselves and their lived experiences in these spaces.”
As a result, it was no coincidence that Vogue magazine released a cover this month that was both ambitious and surprising.
The magazine did something many people probably thought it never would: It placed two 76-year-old women on its cover.
Of course, they were not ordinary 76-year-olds.
They were Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour, discussing in some ways the mythology of "The Devil Wears Prada 2," in which Streep plays a version of Wintour.
But still – they are 76 years old.
Although economists have talked for decades about the power of the “silver dollar” or the “gray market,” the fashion world largely ignored this idea in its public-facing image until now.
