Recently there has been a welcome shift in the ages of models used by brands. At one time you would usually find that girls from the age of about 15 and upwards were sought after to portray the ‘look’ that brands wanted – young, fresh faced, thin, vibrant young women with perfect skin.
If you look around on the internet the upswing of mature faced models is evident and I have to say ‘hallelujah’ to this move by the fashion industry. Isabella Rossellini was pushed out of Lancôme at age 42 as she was deemed too old…. they’ve just taken her back at 66! It’s almost like the industry has just realised that women do actually exist past the age of 30.
When I was thinking about Aura’s website, I knew that I wanted some photos for a gallery page and also some I could use for social media. Nothing better than seeing jewellery being worn, right? The problem I had with young fresh-faced models was that they didn’t fit with who was actually going to wear my jewellery. A lot of my customers are women over the age of 40 who have gone through the ‘having the latest trend’ phase. They know, and are confident, in their own style. They will wear what suits them, what they love, what suits the mood they’re in, or how they want to feel. Perfect!
The other musing I had was how relatable the models would be. No matter how hard I tried, and as much as I’d love to, I know I am never going to look like Elle Macpherson or Cindy Crawford. They are both women of my age, but I am always going to look like me and I’m not sure I can actually identify with them.
So, with that in mind, the important consideration was to have women who were not ‘models’ but who were everyday people. Fabulous women that other everyday women could identify with. Who better to choose than friends of a certain age who have their own sense of style and who love fashion. These are the women who wear Aura, and to me it made a lot of sense to have them modelling the jewellery. None of us are going to be as young as we were yesterday, but looking ahead I think we can be just as amazing!
