A few days ago, blogger Jane Cunningham of British Beauty Blogger (www.britishbeautyblogger.com) sent out a Tweet that resonated (and hit all the way home):

Honestly tired of brands who think their audience is twenty year olds but are only kept in business by 40+ – be deluded all you like but we see you and yes, we are judging you.

@britbeautyblogger

Dears, I couldn’t wait to jump all over that tweet.

Since the meteoric Rise of the Millennial, I have watched brands spin their wheels trying to get their products into the hands of young, progressive, influencers with 100k+ Instagram followers professionals and, seemingly, out of the hands of their older counterparts.

Recently, Stuart Weitzman tapped Gigi Hadid and Willow Smith to rep its boots. Kaia Gerber sells multi-thousand-dollar Jimmy Choos. And Kendall Jenner once shilled legacy brand Estee Lauder.

Inclusivity means age too, though you wouldn’t think it after spending five minutes with a fashion glossy/on Instagram/walking down the street bombarded by countless billboards.

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Months ago I swore to recognize the superpower that we all have, but often forget:

We. Spend. Money.

For that we are told that we are not of interest. We are told that our well-earned wrinkles and grey strands should be relegated to shops with the word “barn” in the title and anti-aging lines hocked on shopping channels. We are tossed aside like a big steaming pile of GenX-ers and Boomers, and, let’s face it, past-their-prime Millennials (gasp! sooo passé!). So why, then, should our purchasing power be put towards brands that don’t care about us? I don’t know about you, but my idea of beauty is not a barely-out-of-their-teens waif-like model wearing little more than stilettos and the perfect pout.

Recently I’ve started to look towards solely supporting brands that “dare” to feature people to whom we can actually relate.

Take Zendaya’s collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger: her debut show closed with non other than THE Grace Jones who reminded us that she is an ageless goddess who will go to the grave wearing nothing but chain mail and thigh-high boots.

(Fairly) recently in the pages of several fashion mags we’ve seen the return of supermodels of yore: the September 2019 issue of Vogue featured Amber Valletta. Before that, we saw Caroline Murphy in the March 2019 issue of Harper’s Bazaar US. In the past few months we’ve spotted Shalom Harlow, Christy Turlington, and the unparalleled Naomi Campbell doing what they do best while representing us on a global platform.

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Inclusivity extends far beyond race, gender, and sexuality — far beyond. It includes all of us, and that “all” includes those who are thriving through The Midlife, crow’s feet and all.

The last thing we need is to be shown countless photos of luxury goods sported by a twenty-something who has a negative BMI. What we do need is representation on mastheads, at PR and model agencies, and in creative fields steering the direction in which (the future of) fashion should go. And that future includes us.

May your hair flips be fabulous.

XOXO,

Le Snobbery

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