Why did I not know that Lesley Manville was a muse for Loewe? She is one of my most favourite actors. She seems to pop up everywhere. There is no role she is scared to try her hand at and she excels in everything she does. I only found out about this though because another fabulous older and bolder woman I love, Mary Portas, shared it on her socials and it stopped me in my tracks.
“There is something profoundly moving and long overdue about the way the fashion and beauty industries are finally embracing older women—not as an act of charity, but as a celebration of their undeniable magnetism. Whether it was the timeless Dame Maggie Smith in Loewe or Joan Didion in Celine or Leslie Manville in the latest Loewe campaign what we’re witnessing is a shift toward honouring women not despite their age, but because of it.”
Mary Portas, September 2025.
Yes, there is something profoundly moving and long overdue about the way the fashion and beauty industries are finally embracing older women. It doesn’t seem to be in a patronising ‘look how well she’s holding up’ sort of way for a change. No. More like a celebration of their undeniable magnetism.
And so here’s Lesley Manville, radiating power and mischief in the latest Loewe campaign.
What we’re witnessing .. I hope … is a cultural shift where women are finally being honoured not despite their age, but because of it.
And let’s be clear: this shouldn’t feel radical. But it does. Because for decades, the industry’s obsession has been with youth and the idea that beauty expires once the first laughter lines start to shows. That lie has made fortunes.
And if you read my most recent post about the Forever 35 Face there’s definitely a lot of irony at play.
Meanwhile, older men? They get called ‘distinguished.’ Women get called ‘over the hill.’ The double standard is so baked in to our cultural psyche that we barely notice it until something like this jolts us awake.
I’ve been banging this drum for years through my blog and sometimes it feels like I’m in such a silo. Shouldn’t we acknowledge that these women are not just beautiful. They’re extraordinary. Brimming with confidence, talent, intelligence and yes, an unshakable sex appeal that only comes with time.
There’s a particular power that comes when you’ve lived long enough to stop caring about the male gaze or the patriarchal conscript that told us to be pretty, polite, small and quiet.
That’s when you get the Lesley Manville’s of the world smouldering in Loewe, not trying to be 25, but fully herself and let’s face it all the hotter for it.
Who wouldn’t look at that and think: that’s how I want to age.
When will we ever learn? This is where the power is. This is where the beauty is. And let’s be brutally honest it’s where the money is.
Older women aren’t invisible unless they choose to be.
The industry has been so terrified of ageing it forgot the obvious truth: the women who’ve lived, loved, worked, raised, rebelled, lost, triumphed … they are the most magnetic of all.
The laughter lines aren’t flaws.
Fashion is finally starting to catch up. Slowly. Grudgingly. But still – finally.
Because real, lived-in, radiant womanhood is not just relevant.
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