American Apparel Thinks Sexy Gets Better With Age, Casts 62 Y/O Lingerie Model

Just when you were sick of all the hipster photos of young men and women in the American Apparel campaigns, and all the stunts they puled such as using a porn star to market their clothes and using pubic hair on mannequins in their stores, they did this…

The clothing label has just cast a 62 year old model for their latest lingerie campaign, proving sexiness is not defined by a number or an specific age group. Her name is Jackie O’Shaughnessy, she is an actress and a model, and this is not the first time she has worked for American Apparel. In 2012 she modeled for their ‘Advanced Basics’ collection.

They posted this picture of Jackie on their Facebook and Instagram (which almost made the internet explode with likes and shares) with this status: “Sexy has no expiration date. Jackie in Floral Lace Lingerie.”

Indeed! The other cool thing about Jackie’s new lingerie shoot is that she is not excessively photoshopped nor is she wearing a tonne of make up. That is pretty common with all of the models featured in American Apparel shoot, so it is nice to see them finally acknowledge beauty at all ages.

While we may not be fans of everything they do, we can certainly appreciate that they know how to create a lot of noise and a big statement. For us as a feminist website in favor of promoting positive messages for young women, this campaign shows all women that beauty shouldn’t be dictated by the fashion industry, instead the great diversity of women in the world should be dictating what labels, designers and advertisers feature in their campaigns.

This is not the first time a major label has cast an older woman in their range. UK store TK Maxx cast 85 year old model Daphne self, reportedly the world’s oldest working model, in a campaign in August 2013. And more recently, The Olsen Twins chose to use an older model for their latest range from their label ‘The Row’. Her name is Linda Rodin, she is 65 and is also the creator of Rodin facial cosmetics range.

One day these kind of stories won’t be huge anomalies in the fashion world because, shock horror, older women wear clothes and like to be fashionable too. But in the meantime we are happy to support and report on the brands who are pushing the boundaries and are part of the change in trends toward female models.

Vogue Italia who featured this story on their site also, asked the question “Could this be a new step towards the ultimate demolition of the ultra young, thin, white model cliché?”

We hope more designers, brands, magazine and advertisers will join the movement to show our next generation of girls as they grow up what a diverse world we live in, and that we celebrate women of all shapes, sizes and ages. While life is not just about being sexy, this is not what these images of Jackie are promoting. It is saying that women of any age deserve to feel sexy, and be told they are sexy without having to fit into a narrow definition created by an industry which thrives off making women feel bad about the way they look.

Thank you American Apparel for creating a viral campaign with a positive image attached to it. You guys aren’t so bad after all!