This Season’s Biggest Muse? Grandmothers

by Lauriane Belair August 21, 2018

As a blanket statement, grandmas are the coolest. They give you unconditional love — not to mention endless snacks provisions — and by the time a woman becomes a grandmother, she has usually mastered her own sense of style. But it’s not just me who finds Grandmas inspiring, Brandon Maxwell tapped into the very special relationship many Grandmas have with style by casting his very own ‘Mammaw’ to star in his label’s Fall 2018 campaign.

The first in a series of our Fall/Winter Campaign images, starring my Mammaw. Shot in her bedroom in Longview, Texas wearing our boucle hoodie and crystal embroidered tulle ball skirt. I used to lay in this bed growing up and dream about what my life would look like, so this felt fitting. This campaign was shot solely on film, with no digital equipment. We had one shot to take an authentic photo, and a hope that it would turn out. No easy feat and one which requires quite a bit of preparation and dedication, so thank you to every member of our team who encouraged and supported that process which ultimately made this moment more true for me. Full link to film via link in bio, insta stories, and IGTV. ️ Photography: @brandonmaxwell & @wonderfulboy Set Design: @rae_cur_ree Make-up: @kristinlroberts for @maccosmetics Photography Assistants: @lynnebowmancravens and @philkline Art Director: @linamw Post Production: @velem Executive Producer: Brandon Maxwell Studio Producer: @laurenpistoia #mammaw #brandonmaxwell

A post shared by Brandon Maxwell (@brandonmaxwell) on Aug 16, 2018 at 6:01am PDT

The intimate images of Maxwell’s 81 year-old grandmother, Louise Johnson, open up a window into Maxwell’s personal life and early fashion memories. (Maxwell says that Johnson’s career as a buyer for a small Texas boutique greatly influenced his love for fashion.) Shot in his hometown of Longview, Texas, the campaign – along with a very melancholic interview – immortalizes the designer’s very sweet relationship with his grandmother.

Yet Maxwell isn’t the only designer casting mature women to paint a picture of elegance this season. Helmut Lang’s Fall 2018 campaign celebrates the elegant elders of Wales, including Dilys, 86, who holds the world record for being the oldest woman skydiver, and Margaret, also 86, the grandmother of the campaign’s stylist and a retired funeral director.

In a similar fashion, Moncler cast Elon Musk’s 70-year-old mother Maye Musk (who includes the hashtag “#grandmother” in her Instagram bio) as one of 19 faces of the label’s Fall 2018 campaign, and dame Joan Collins, 85, struck poses for Kurt Geiger’s latest campaign. Art collector and grandmother, Thea Westreich, walked down the runway for Eckhaus Latta autumn 2018 show. And the 77-year-old Faye Dunaway stars in Gucci’s Fall/Winter campaign as a benevolent and wealthy matron.

The new stars of Fall 2018, along with the countless fabulous influencers over 50, are slowly but surely kicking ageism out of the fashion industry. Good riddance!