Marketing Week has reported that Debenhams is launching a campaign starring older women as part of its ongoing push to make its advertising reflect the diversity of its shoppers.
The department store group says it is the UK’s “only retailer to commit to reflecting its diverse customer base through representative imagery”.
The activity follows Debenhams’ advertising campaigns featuring a disabled model, six 16 and plus size mannequins and its decision to ban airbrushing in all its advertising collateral.
The retailer says ‘The Style List’ campaign features models in their 40s, 50s and 60s as high street advertising and fashion imagery in magazines and stores is “dominated by models under 25” which neglects older women with big spending power.
The in-store, online and advertising campaign will give ongoing advice and guidance to women over 40 to achieve high fashion looks.
Michael Sharp, Debenhams deputy chief executive, says: “This group of women aren’t communicated to by the fashion press and retailers with models of their own age. We wanted to be the first to put this right.”
‘The Style List’ campaign is a joint venture with fashion commentator and diversity campaigner Caryn Franklin who says Debenhams is the only retailer “ready to change things” and that its strategy to reflect real women in its advertising is “a business savvy move”.
Tell me your thoughts, I think this is a fantastic move in the right direction, as you know I feel it is completely ridiculous to feature models not representative of the shape, age group and not realistically to those that will wear the clothes.
Hollywood NOW, the local chapter of the 44 year old national organization working to bring women and men into full equality, has announced Whitney Thompson as the 2010 celebrity host of Hollywood NOW’s Love Your Body Day.
Since we last spoke, your plus size clothing collection has gone from strength to strength and a lot of changes have taken place, can you tell us what you have been up to and what you have planned for the future of Anna Scholz?
Our campaign is not just about getting signatures but raising awareness of the modelling industry as it is now. I have started to ask people in the industry to express their feelings toward modelling and body image.
Hi Marie, thank you for speaking with me on the topic of body image, and for supporting Real Bodies Unite since its launch. Firstly, for those that don’t know your blog, The Curvy Fashionista, please can you introduce us to it and how it all came about?
