Abstract
The present study examines the visual rhetoric of a small set of international fashion brands that cater for the clothing preferences of an ageing cohort of fashion-conscious consumers. The purpose of the examination is to show whether the digital branding of fashion garments showing aging models relies on the values that an older segment is expected to naturally adhere to. In contrast to early values theory, the study adopts the position that human values change with age. The study takes the form of a qualitative analysis, using a set of pictures that employs aging models of both sexes to address an international audience of fashion-savvy consumers. The analysis and discussion are intended to raise awareness in the industry of how values may ideally be configured in visual fashion communication to avoid a situation where significant consumer segments may feel misrepresented or alienated. The analysis suggests that fashion communication has adopted social and personal values that resonate with aging consumers, but warns against potential complacency as those who want to age in style are arguably “moving younger”, substituting their focus on social values with the personally-oriented values of their younger peers. However, to our knowledge, extant values theory does not account for how value configurations may alter once older individuals’ identities change and become more youthful and less predictable.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bennett, J.: I Am (an Older) Woman. Hear Me Roar. The New York Times, 8 January (2019)
Deuze, M.: Living in media and the future of advertising. J. Advertising 45(3), 326–333 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2016.1185983
Entwistle, J.: The aesthetic economy: the production of value in the field of fashion modelling. J. Consum. Cult. 2(3), 317–339 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1177/146954050200200302
Entwistle, J., Wissinger, E.: Keeping up appearances: aesthetic labour in the fashion modelling industries of London and New York. Sociol. Rev. 54(4), 774–794 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2006.00671.x
Gouveia, V.V., Vione, K.C., Milfont, T.L., Fischer, R.: Patterns of value change during the life span: some evidence from a functional approach to values. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 41(9), 1276–1290 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167215594189
Robinson, O.C.: Values and adult age: findings from two cohorts of the European Social Survey. Eur. J. Ageing 10(1), 11–23 (2013)
Rocamora, A.: Mediatization and digital media in the field of fashion. Fashion Theor. 21(5), 505–522 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2016.1173349
Rokeach, M.: The Nature of Human Values. Free Press, New York (1973)
Rokeach, M.: Understanding Human Values: Individual and Societal. Free Press, New York (1979)
Sadkowska, A., Townsend, K., Fisher, T., Wolde, D.: (Dis-)engaged older men? hegemonic masculinity, fashion and ageing. Clothing Cultures 4(3), 185–201 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1386/cc.4.3.185_1
Sadkowska, A.: Arts-informed interpretative phenomenological analysis: “making”, as a means of embodied fashion enquiry into older men’s lived experiences. Fashion Pract. 10(3), 405–432 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1080/17569370.2018.1507167
Schwartz, S.H., Bilsky, W.: Toward a universal psychological structure of human values. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 53(3), 550–562 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.53.3.550
Schwartz, S.H., Bilsky, W.: Toward a theory of the universal content and structure of values: extensions and cross-cultural replications. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 58(5), 878–891 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.58.5.878
Schwartz, S.H., Sagiv, L., Boehnke, K.: Worries and values. J. Pers. 68(2), 309–346 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6494.00099
Schwartz, S.H., Melech, G., Lehmann, A., Burgess, S., Harris, M., Owens, V.: Extending the cross-cultural validity of the theory of basic human values with a different method of measurement. J. Cross Cult. Psychol. 32(5), 519–542 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022101032005001
Schwartz, S.H.: Les valeurs de base de la personne: théorie, mesures et applications [Basic Human Values: Theory, Measurement, and Applications]. Revue française de sociologie 42, 249–288 (2006)
Twigg, J.: Adjusting the cut: fashion, the body and age on the UK high street. Ageing Soc. 32, 1030–1054 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1017/So144686X11000754
Twigg, J.: Fashion, the Body, and Age. In: Black, S., De La Haye, A., Entwistle, J., Rocamora, A., Root, R., Thomas, H. (eds.) The Handbook of Fashion Studies, pp. 78–94. Bloomsbury, London (2013)
Walsh, A.: The Salt-and-Pepper Pound: Where Are All the Fiftysomething Models? The Guardian, 8 June 2017
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bøilerehauge, D., Jørgensen, P.E.F. (2019). Ageing in Style: Can We Spot the Values of Age in Digital Fashion Branding?. In: Kalbaska, N., Sádaba, T., Cominelli, F., Cantoni, L. (eds) Fashion Communication in the Digital Age. FACTUM 2019. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15436-3_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15436-3_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15435-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15436-3
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)