The body as site of discourse

Photographer: Vaida Kaklauskaite. Model: Alex B

 Models of Diversity (MoD) the organisation founded by former model Angel Sinclair to campaign for greater diversity in the fashion industry, on the catwalk and off the catwalk, is putting together a major event, a fashion show where the models will all be over 40. Mature Couture will take place on 6th September 2013 at a select London venue and it will showcase classy designs and accessories modelled by beautiful mature models, specially chosen for the occasion.
MoD has been active since 2009 and it has already had an impact on public opinion, through making disabled models more visible. Disability and inclusion have been a top priority for MoD and their campaign was particularly successful in the wake of the Paralympic games, challenging beauty stereotypes.
Now MoD has turned its attention to age, extending a warm welcome to mature models and sending out the message that fashion is not only for the young.  MoD has also questioned 'maturity' as a blanket term: mature women (therefore mature models) also come in all shapes and sizes, in all ethnicities and with a varying level of ability/disability. Age is a leveller, to some extent, but older people still have individuality, just like their younger counterpart.
Another organization that has campaigned for diversity is All Walks, founded by Caryn Franklin. It was thanks to Caryn and to Jane Galpin that the much talked about Diversity Shoot for high street retailer Debenhams took place, showcasing a range of beautiful and diverse models. I applaud and support all such initiatives.

Models: Kelly Knox and Philomena Kwao. Photographer: Chris Floyd

There has been much discussion of such issues in the media. I have noticed shifts. A new generation of fashion designers and photographers, through their training at top institutions such as the London College of Fashion, where Caryn occasionally lectures, is more aware of identity discourses and is ready to embrace diversity in their work, as future professionals. It is no chance that several LCF students have, over the past few years, sought out me and other mature models, such as Valerie Pain, for their portfolio projects, which were a response to their reflection upon the issues of age and identity debated in the classroom as part of their study programme, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

An important milestone has been the Fashion for All Ages feature in the lifestyle pages of The Guardian saturday supplement.  I am not sure how long it has been going for, my online searches show that it does not go further back than 2009, please correct me if I am wrong. I have been very fortunate to model in a few of those shoots, together with fellow mature models Valerie Pain and Pam Lucas - I am the new kid on the block, so to speak. A feature such as this has done much to publicise the fact that fashion is still relevant to older men and women.  True, The Guardian has a progressive, largely middle class readership and the message needs to be embraced more widely. But it is a step forward.
More recently there has been a series of interesting research projects about fashion and age, such as the one undertaken by Professor Julia Twigg of the University of Kent which  "addresses the ways in which identities are constructed through clothing choices, and the responses of the Fashion/Clothing system to this".

Model Alex B, LCF Student Project 2007

Fashion has an important role in the construction of an embodied identity, hence the interest in it among sociologists such as Julia Twigg. As Roland Barthes wrote:
"Clothing concerns all of the human person, all of the body, all the relationships of man to body as well as relationships of the body to society."
Clothed or unclothed, the body is a site of discourse.