Ageism in the Fashion Industry

What do you think when you hear the word model? “Tall, skinny, and young. So pretty much Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid,” says Jennifer Lee as she hunches over her math notes at a Starbucks table. Not only are these types of women the faces of the fashion industry, they are the faces of Western beauty standards. Therefore, one must be tall, thin, white, and young. The fashion industry has always been this way. One can go through the archive of videos of every runway of every designer from 1991 to the present on Vogue’s website. The lack of diversity in runway shows has drawn a lot of criticism in the past. For example, Balenciaga’s Fall 2016 Runway “hired one nonwhite model to walk the runway” according to The Fashion Spot. The topic of the fashion industry’s lack of racial diversity is not new; however, people do not account for or talk about ageism in the industry. Ageism is the discrimination based on a person’s age. According to The Zoe Report, “models over the age of 50 were the least represented group of people on the runway, even more so than different races, sizes and gender identities.”

Some designers are obsessed with youth as a theme for their shows. For example, Christian Dior opened its Fall 2015 runway show with 14-year-old Sofia Mechetner in a sheer dress. However, this fascination with youth becomes a problem because the fashion industry is a statement about what Western beauty standards are. They are saying youth is in, mature beauty is not.

Despite the lack of attention towards this problem, there have been some designers that have tried to combat this problem through their runway shows. The brand VETEMENTS, led by Demma Gvasalia, has released a video of its FW17-18 line on a runway based on a subway escalator (VETEMENTS FW17-18). Although many may look at Gvasalia’s approach as strange and hard to look at, he hopes to make people confront what they may find uncomfortable. This line has a great diversity in race, gender, and most glaringly, age. He puts middle-aged and elderly women and men in clothes that are stereotypically “old people” clothes. He makes a critique on the stereotypes placed on older people by placing them in clothes that we would associate them with, and by making it obvious, he forces the audience to question it. He wants people to understand and look at the fact that VETEMENTS are just that, clothing. Pun intended.

            Not only will it help older women and men embrace their mature beauty, it will also help the brands sell their clothing. According to Brandon Gaille’s marketing website, “58% of women who do shop for apparel online around the world are in the 25-45 age demographic” which means that by appealing to older women, their profits will most likely increase as well.

            There are several controversies that follow the fashion industry. The most well-known problems include the promotion of unhealthy beauty standards and the lack of racial diversity. However, there is much more to discuss such as the prevailing ageism. It is important for the leading figures in the industry to understand that audiences look to them as the declarants for beauty standards.