I was reading an article about a study by Minneapolis agency SuperHuman about marketing and women above 40. How brands get it wrong. It was 2017, I forgot where they published about it. But I remember I seemed to agree 300 percent with the gap they observed between what women want and look for and marketing messages.
Companies still get it wrong. For this reason, I've been shopping (almost) exclusively in Italy for years. Less stereotype, more fun. Women in their prime are severely underserved in American culture: from travel to food to apparel and lifestyle. At work, too. But that's a separate conversation.
Women above 40 are “perennials” who keep reinventing themselves. There's something substantial with this concept. Longevity, for one. Perennials conserve their energy and don’t waste it on false product, experience, need, etc. There’s longevity because both the corporation and customer grow, in their own way, from the relationship.
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Brands that don’t need to steal energy to survive, thrive.
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The other data point is the story.
Women above 40 are more independent and self aware, active global thinkers and doers, they don't fit past categories—e.g., many are childless, very fit. The brands and companies that “see” and “hear” these women earn tremendous relationships and word of mouth. I'd go as far as saying that athletisure apparel and fast fashion brands benefited from this trend even as companies didn't recognize it.
The whole French girl and now Italian chic narrative found space because women above 40 were starving for style and substance. Read the comments to any article about styling like an Italian woman and you'll find nods like:
“Italian women are the best dressed women in the world. Almost all design and style of all things in Italy is just so good. Love that country.”
“Better quality clothes that should not only last longer, but may fit better as well.”
“I spent three months in Florence Italy last year. Some things I noticed: women wore more dresses, and skirts, than I see in California. Women seemed ok being women, not sure how to explain that… They seemed to like natural fibers more. They seemed to like classic style more than trends. I saw more wedges, than heels.”
Composition, color, classic lines, and a certain type of playfulness are part of it. I was in Lucca in the spring, and I could tell who lived in the city and who was just visiting from abroad. I should photograph people more, I know. Because there's really a lot of elegance and grace in body language that the unobservant misses.
Living in Italy is a permission to upgrade style. In Lucca, I crossed paths with a British woman while looking for a place. She was flawless casual chic and in her '60s. My clue that she lived there was a comment she volunteered about her neighborhood.
[the image is me while recording a video trailer for an upcoming project]