What: Fashion brands such as Evereve, Ulla Johnson and Frances Valentine are actively courting shoppers in their 50s, 60s and beyond, putting older women, including their own founders, at the centre of their marketing while investing in fit, quality and service.

Why it is important: With baby boomers holding around $93 trillion in assets, brands that stay credible to a 65-year-old without alienating a 35-year-old gain access to a loyal, well-funded cohort that competitors still overlook.

Fashion has long equated youth with relevance: Americans over 60 represent 22.2% of the population but only 4.2% of models in ads, according to a 2023 review in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. A growing group of brands is now actively courting older women, who bring disposable income, loyalty and a desire for lasting relationships with brands and sales associates.

Frances Valentine, where 43% of customers are aged 56 to 65, has made co-founder Elyce Arons, who is in her 60s, its primary model, and reports sales up 80% year-to-date after 53% growth the previous year. Ulla Johnson's highest-engagement content features its founder, and many of these brands prioritise Facebook and Instagram over TikTok.

Rather than marketing by age, these brands design for a sensibility or life stage, seeking to appeal to a 35-year-old while remaining credible to a 65-year-old. Fit and quality are the decisive test: experienced shoppers inspect construction and stop buying when fit fails, and Ulla Johnson credits fit and comfort for its 70% customer retention rate.

In stores, time-rich shoppers respond to styling advice, and brands report more mothers and daughters shopping together.

IADS Notes: Older shoppers combine substantial purchasing power, strong brand loyalty and growing digital fluency, and they value personalised service and in-store experiences, yet they remain often overlooked by an industry focused on younger consumers (Financial Times, December 2025). The concentration of wealth strengthens the case for serving them directly: baby boomers hold around $93 trillion in assets, but only about $36 trillion is expected to pass to Gen X and millennial heirs over the next 20 years, and only around $8 trillion is likely to reach consumer spending (Visa, July 2026). Fit remains the main point of friction. Sizing issues account for 74% of apparel returns, and older shoppers, particularly those over 45, account for the majority of returns, which has prompted calls for sizing intelligence and multi-generational design (VMSD, March 2026). Channel assumptions are also shifting: older demographics are now the fastest-growing segment on TikTok Shop, whose US sales nearly doubled to $4.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026 (The Wall Street Journal, April 2026).

North American fashion brands court older shoppers for their spending power and loyalty