Fashion is, unfortunately, a world that celebrates youth but every now and then a fashion house or beauty brand smartens up and celebrates beauty that only comes with age.
Lately, knockout women in their 50's, 60's and 70's have become the new faces of fashion and beauty brands. The trend has been met with a mixed reception with some critics branding the marketing move as a shameless attempt at shock value and others lauding brands for injecting some age into their campaigns.
Most recently we saw 93-year old Iris Apfel share the spotlight with supermodel Karlie Kloss for Kate Spade’s 2015 campaign and the results were nothing less than spectacular.
Today, we're looking at some of our favourite fashion and beauty campaigns fronted by women who have lived a little longer than two decades.
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Fashion Campaigns Fronted By Older Women
Iris Apfel x Kate Spade
Young and old collide for Kate Spade’s Spring Summer 2015 campaign. Model-of-the-moment Karlie Kloss and fashion icon Iris Apfel pose on a park bench with a bevy of random characters including a duck, a dapper older gentlemen and two adorable twins with fiery red hair. Apfel, of course, steals the show in lime green pants, a shirt with an oversized bow and her signature large glasses.
Joan Didion x Céline
Joan Didion is as much known for her fashion prowess as she's known for being a journalist and revered author. The former Vogue editor was recently revealed as one of the faces of French fashion house Céline, making it clear that fashion is for more than just the young.
Joni Mitchell x Saint Laurent
Songstress Joni Mitchell went from Woodstock to the new face of Saint Laurent and it makes perfect sense. The French fashion house selected the 71-year-old "Big Yellow Taxi" singer to front their most recent Music Project campaign. The black and white images show the icon with her eyes closed, seemingly lost in her lifelong passion, music.
Helen Mirren x L’Oreal Paris
Dame Helen Mirren likely sold a few bottles of anti-aging cream by appearing in L'Oreal's television campaign for their Age Perfect line. L'Oreal's no stranger to casting mature women in their campaigns, having featured the always radiant Diane Keaton in a previous ad.
Linda Rodin x The Row
Two twenty-somethings, namely Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, cast 65-year-old former model and Harper's Bazaar editor, Linda Rodin, as the new face of their Pre-Fall 2014 campaign for The Row. Not surprisingly, Rodin made the clothing look completely effortless and desirable for anyone, young and old.
Lauren Hutton x Lucky Brand
Former Playboy bunny Lauren Hutton fronted Lucky Brand denim's 2013 campaign. Truth be told, Hutton, who's in her 70's, wore skinny jeans and a trendy bomber jacket better than most 20-year-olds.
Stephanie Seymour x Jason Wu
The always striking Stephanie Seymour posed for Jason Wu's Spring 2013 campaign at the age of 44. We almost can't count her as an older woman given the fact that the former supermodel still photographs like she's in her twenties.
Jacky O'Shaughnessy x American Apparel
In a bit of a departure from American Apparel's usual model preferences, the brand selected 62-year-old actress, Jacky O'Shaughnessy, to pose in their 2014 lingerie campaign. The sassy ads feature the clearly limber model not giving a damn what anyone thinks.
Catherine Deneuve x Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton recruited 61-year-old French actress Catherine Deneuve to star in their Spring-Summer 2014 campaign, along with a host of beauties including Gisele Bündchen and Edie Campbell. The campaign was Marc Jacobs' last for Louis Vuitton and was a tribute to the women who played muse to the fashion designer through the years.
Charlotte Rampling x NARS / Marc Jacobs
Fashion visionary Marc Jacobs has never shied away from the non-traditional. In 2004, he selected then 58-year-old English actress, Charlotte Rampling, to star in a racy campaign that featured her embracing American photographer, William Eggleston, on a bed. Since then, Rampling has also landed a major campaign with makeup giant, NARS.