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Despite some progress, fashion has a long way to go to address its age representation problem. The industry is overwhelmingly geared towards the younger generation, specifically “twenty-something” women. So much of the marketing done by fashion brands targets younger women, preys on their insecurities and bombards them with messages that to be young is to be beautiful.
From a business standpoint, fashion brands, including sustainable brands, seem to be avoiding a massive market. In fact, in 2020, 23% of the world population was between 40 and 59 years old—that’s almost 2 billion people. The truth is, the 50-plus market is said to be “the largest growth area for fashion expenditure” in the UK. It’s even predicted that this sidelining of “older” consumers could cost the fashion and beauty industries £11bn over the next 20 years, according to research by the International Longevity Centre (ILC-UK).
We need more brands to take action so that everyone—no matter their age, race, size, gender, ability, sexuality, or socioeconomic status—can have a meaningful place in fashion and beyond.
So if you’re over 40 and are looking to incorporate more sustainable fashion staples into your wardrobe, what brands can you turn to? We’ve rounded up our favourite sustainable fashion brands for the fabulous over-40s. And while these brands are great for people over 40, they’ll truly work for anyone at any age!
Below you’ll find some sustainable staples that will go with anything you already have in your wardrobe: workwear essentials by CARPASUS (Switzerland) and Mara Hoffman (US), easy to put together items by LANIUS (Germany) and Mila.Vert (Slovenia), classic denim by unspun (US), sturdy basics from Beaumont Organic (UK) and The Classic T-Shirt Company (US), and even accessories and jewellery by MASHU (UK) and ARTICLE22 (US). These brands are great options, whatever your age. And of course, anyone of any age should be able to wear whatever makes them feel their best.
