International mature model Joseph Solano argues that fashion’s assumptions about age are more habit than strategy. The fashion industry has made progress in representing a greater range of bodies, backgrounds, and identities on runways and in campaigns. However, the issue of whether fashion adequately reflects the age of the consumers buying and wearing it still deserves more attention.
Despite this, fashion imagery often does not reflect the ageing of the customer.
Ageing Consumers
Those in older age groups have not stopped caring about how they look and continue to buy clothing and footwear. The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics living-cost weights show that clothing and footwear remain part of spending patterns for both age-pensioner and self-funded-retiree households.
Joseph Solano, a 63-year-old model, has walked at Australian Fashion Week and Melbourne Fashion Festival for designers such as Christian Kimber and MJ Bale. He notes that once an older model is on the runway, age becomes unremarkable, and the focus remains on the clothes.
Rethinking Conventions
Fashion has strong conventions, but these are not necessarily permanent. Ideas about who can appear in a campaign and what beauty looks like have evolved over time. Solano suggests that Australian fashion can be open to rethinking these conventions and that showing a range of ages can make commercial and cultural sense.
For brands with customers spanning several decades, representation is most convincing when it feels truthful rather than tokenistic. An older model in a campaign should be there because they buy the product and wear it well, not just to tick a box.
This is particularly important in menswear, where men are often encouraged to develop their style as they mature. However, the imagery selling these products can still imply that style has an expiry date.
Solano believes that this is not a problem requiring a radical change, but rather curiosity and a willingness to look beyond the habitual age bracket. By casting a wider net and judging models on criteria such as presence and professionalism, fashion can create more authentic and relatable imagery.