The Met Gala: Where Are The 50+ Fashion Ambassadors?


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Whether you take interest in it or not, it’s highly unlikely you’ve missed the fact it was the Met Gala earlier this week. The press went wild over it. Known as ‘The Oscars Of Fashion’, it’s the opportunity for the world’s leading luxury fashion houses to showcase their finest work – on the biggest stars. It’s the fashion brands who buy the tickets, and it’s the brands who choose who’ll they’ll dress (with Anna Wintour’s firm direction).

Which is why the guest list is so interesting from a fashion perspective:  it’s an insight into whom the industry wants to dress and represent them.

The guest list can be broken down into 4 categories:

  1. The Fashion Industry Famous  – Anna Wintour (host),  Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss etc
  2. Fashion Brand Ambassadors – celebrities with contractual relationships with fashion houses
  3. The Fashion Industry Friends & Superstars  – a collection of superstars and A-listers who don’t have a direct affiliation with any brand, but are so famous / known for their love of style that they couldn’t not be invited  
  4. People who are relevant and influential right now

It won’t come as a surprise that the majority of people who fall into all of these categories are under a certain age. The guest list each year reads like a who’s who of the world’s biggest millennials and gen-z’s right now.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any ‘older’ attendees. There’s the 90s supermodels such as Naomi Campbell, Shalom Harlow and Amber Valetta, and the superstar icons like Madonna and JLo. And this year I was delighted to spot Christine Baranski (who celebrated her 70th birthday that very day), Hillary Clinton, Glenn Close, Erika Badu and Maye Musk on the red carpet.

For Baranski and Close, it was their first time attending, falling into category 4 of ‘relevance’. The theme was “Gilded Glamour”, so naturally Baranski was invited as she’s the star of the new series “The Gilded Age”.  Meanwhile, Close is soon to be all over our screens as the star of a new big Apple+ thriller series, Tehran. As to Clinton, her attendance was down to her connection with the theme which, in essence, was about celebrating America  (the last time she attended, the theme was “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years”).

Because category 4 is the biggest variable, the chances of these ladies attending again next year is slim. But we should still see other older stars: there will be those like Baranski and Close who fall into category 4, and we can be sure we’ll be seeing those 50+ superstars and supermodels from categories 1 and 3 again.

But the one category we cannot rely on for championing older women is category 2: Fashion Brand Ambassadors. Because, in short, they are virtually nowhere to be found.

Take Louis Vuitton. Over on Instagram, the brand waxed lyrical about their 11 celebrity brand ambassadors for the Gala, and not one of them was over the age of 40. In fact, both at the Gala and beyond, there’s currently only 1 person over the age of 50 who’s an ambassador for a luxury fashion house (not including beauty, jewellery or watches): Jared Leto. A man.

But what about Glenn Close, who actually came with Valentino creative director Pier Paolo Piccioli? She isn’t an ambassador. As she told Vogue's live stream, she only found out who was dressing her 2 weeks before the Gala. And whilst model Maye Musk might have worked for multiple fashion brands, she was actually attending as son’s Elon Musk’s plus one (in other words, she wasn’t invited in her own right).

Compare this with beauty. Despite its many issues with ageism, the cosmetics industry is far more progressive with it comes to appointing age diverse ambassadors . L’Oréal, Lancôme, Pat McGrath and are all welcoming famous 50+ faces into their brands. So why is fashion more resistant?

Perhaps it has nothing to do with the houses being discriminatory; perhaps it’s the older A-Listers who are rejecting the opportunity. After all, with age comes a more developed sense of individuality and style, so they may not want to be handcuffed to a particular brand. But it’s unlikely. After all, an ambassadorship doesn’t mean you have to wear a brand everywhere and anywhere. And even if it did, I doubt even some of the biggest stars would turn down a $20 million contract with Dior. 

Unfortunately, as they say, the most obvious answer is usually the correct one: ageism. And it needs to be addressed.

Whether we like it or not, these days celebrity endorsement and ambassadorship is integral to success. And, as I’ve always said, age-inclusivity needs to be embedded into a brand’s DNA for it to be true and authentic. So, if a luxury fashion house wants to be perceived as more inclusive, this must extend to their ambassador program.  

Valentino, it’s not good enough to simply cast 2 50+ models in your latest runway show, and dress Glenn Close as a one off for the Gala. Why not make Glenn and ambassador too? How incredible could she look in campaign alongside current ambassador Zendaya?! Close clearly loved the experience of working with you, and quite frankly any luxury fashion house should be honoured to be represented by the 8-time Oscar nominee – or any of her fabulous peers. 

So, luxury fashion houses, if you want to seem age-inclusive, prove it. Prove that you’d be proud to be represented by an older star. Make her an ambassador who can show off your creation next year at the Met Gala. And if you won’t, well, they can always give us a call.

All images: Getty Images 

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