Above: Laura Ponte, Maggie Smith, Mary Berry.
I’m grateful that as part of the creative team at House 337, I’ve had a chance to work on a clothing retailer like JD Williams, which has a completely different attitude – most recently demonstrated in its spring/summer 2024 campaign Admit it, this age thing suits you, which we created in close collaboration with Head of Marketing, Esme Stone, and her team at JD Williams.
The work doesn’t just include one or two older women, stuck in the background as the young ’uns strut their stuff. All the models are middle-aged, and there’s a mix of sizes and ethnicities. We see taut, dimpled, and wrinkled skin and grey, dyed, and natural hair.
The more I see it, without any words to go with it, the more I believe it, the more my own thoughts on my own ageing started to re-route.
This lack of age inclusivity does make it easy for us to create campaigns that really stand out. But I would love it if that weren’t the case.
When I see a brand featuring an older woman, this internal “hell yes” goes off within me. I genuinely think, god she looks cool, my mindset towards my own ageing shifts to a more and more positive space. The more I see it, without any words to go with it, the more I believe it, and the more my own thoughts on my own ageing started to re-route. I can only imagine that effect is even greater for women who “aged out” of representation a decade or more ago.
