Despite the Hollywood wing dictating the perfect canons of the so-called “perfect” beauty, and celebrities and influencers, having no “hands on measure” to delay the “four winds” – with magic filters, that “perfection” is “at hand of sowing” what is certain is that, there is still a new market niche, which is taking over in the fashion industry and beyond, with a more mature, wise, and “unfiltered” beauty.
Hallelujah!
© @baiga.mag
© ted
I’m the first to admit that I’ve always lived surrounded by fashion, beauty and a society that predicts that being young, thin and “beautiful” is the perfect ingredient for success, on all levels. However, without exaggeration or special effects, the “new beauty” now arrives more real than ever with “masterpieces” coming from a golden age, with so-called real bodies – without defined gender – and truly inclusive. This age is well over 50 years old, renewed, wise and thirsty for life. Don’t have being remembering the past Live in the present, here and now.
Names like Joni Mitchell – who was the image of the Saint Laurent campaign in the summer of 2015; Catherine Deneuve, chosen for Jacobs’ Spring/Summer 2014 campaign, for Louis Vuitton; Carmen Dell’Orefice, who is over 80 years old, is still a model and has been in the profession for 70 years, and more recently, Diana Ross – for Yves Saint Laurent, now, in 2024. They are examples of ovation that represent that, despite everything, age is just a number.
Brands like Fenty Puma, Dove, MAC, among many others, already confirm that the winds are coming to change, and delay in their advertising campaigns, a more diverse, real and transversal beauty, where the general public identifies more and feels be accompanied.
Nowadays, the number of candles we blow out becomes insignificant and the fashion industry closely supports and applauds. Marc Jacobs corroborates this thesis, by choosing Jessica Lange (aged 65) to image his beauty line, in the past; not to mention the fun Dolce & Gabbana who once again confirmed that tradition is no longer what it used to be, including elderly women in their campaign. As for Joan Didion, she added that the Celine house was also a fan of this trend and Vivienne Westwood signed on low.
If in the past it was a premonition, now it becomes a confirmation. The golden years of the most mature women, with real beauty, arrive in the fashion arena, with all the pomp and circumstance required, to celebrate a new era. The days of the “slavery” of youth are now numbered, and the immediacy of “beauty” with plastic surgery, which often has its “dark” side that is little talked about, with bad results.
© @baiga.mag
The obsession with “perfect” beauty and age will never cease to exist, however, what changes is the relationship we have with ourselves. Although cosmetics marketing is quite aggressive, with the best anti-wrinkle, anti-stretch and cellulite creams, botox, hyaluronic acids and the like, and countless advertising campaigns flooding us with youthful and immaculate beauty, this new niche goes against all expectations and remains unchanged.
These days, the expression “rags are old” is emphasized with freedom and power. Who doesn’t remember the Portuguese film Cats Don’t Have Vertigo, by António Pedro Vasconcelos (2014), in which the character of João Jesus (Job), a boy disenchanted with life, finds himself rescued by the affection of Maria do Céu Guerra ( Rosa), a fragile 73-year-old woman?
Nothing like quoting a dialogue to dispel all doubts regarding this topic. The moment when the character Rosa states: “I’m an old woman!” and Job responds: “You are not an old woman! You’re special, you’re vintage…”, it softens my heart and makes me believe in a better and much more “pink” world, where being prevails over opinion
The imperialism of youth is coated with a disposable aura and the place of mature beauty is synonymous with differentiation and luxury. This is what the most reputable brands that highlight experience, real life and essence dictate.
Here, style transcends age and remains eternal. I can confess that I can identify with these real and experienced women and think that one day I will be like them… With wrinkles, a past of memories and a whole life to tell.
“I’d rather be an old rose than a plastic rose”
Diane von Fürstenberg
