Annie Stirk has spent the last few weeks making something of a splash in the fashion industry. On the back of a stunning photoshoot in London— in which she stepped out wearing statement pieces from designer Zandra Rhodes’ new collection— she has sent more shockwaves by releasing an open letter to an “ageist” fashion industry. She demands that those in her age category are no longer rendered “invisible” by marketing campaigns.
At the shoot she said, “I felt amazing in these outfits” Were they too ‘young’ for me? No! Who gets to determine that? I’m in my 70’s and I feel creative and full of life. I want to be able to express that.”.
We sat down with Annie to learn a little more about what life is like for North Yorkshire’s coolest Grandma.
How did you end up working in modelling after retirement?
I responded to an advert on Facebook one dreary February day, just after I had retired. It said “models needed no experience required”, and I thought, well, that’s me, so I sent a selfie and we’d just been to a Great Gatsby event so I was all touted up with feathers. And that just kickstarted my career. It rolled along from there, opportunities just pop-up, you know. But who would have thought all that would have come out of taking a selfie?
Is it a choice you’d recommend to more people?
Definitely! Just don’t expect to earn a fortune. My motto is “just do it!” because you never know where it might lead.
Could you tell us what your campaign is all about?
It became clear that for women of my age it’s not great. When I go to any of the big stores, I don’t see me. There are no images of 50, 60, 70 plus women in the store. They take our money, but they don’t actually market to us. They don’t recognize that we are visible. So, I decided to write this open letter to brands and advertisers, and it just went viral on social media!
The over 50s already account for 47% of all UK consumer spending but this institutional ageism makes us feel invisible.
Sales stats show that we are the ones who are buying fun and edgy clothes and yet they are not prepared to market to us because somehow, they are scared and are a bit embarrassed.
What was the London shoot all about?
It was just to say, this is 74, this is what 74 looks like. What’s wrong with promoting this woman who looks like this?
Do you have any style recommendations for this summer?
A lot of it is about confidence. It could be down to colour. When your hair changes colour what you’ve been wearing with brunette, brown, or blonde probably doesn’t look quite right. It’s about being open to using colour. Colour has a lot of power to make you look good. You can start gently — it doesn’t have to be bright orange straight away! It’s amazing how you can look totally different just by adopting different colours.
I would say don’t be sacred of the younger fashion, it isn’t all for younger people. That’s the point.
I shop at supermarkets; the supermarket brands are fantastic. If you have a little trawl around there, there is something for everybody.
You also don’t need to follow fashion slavishly. There’s a real crochet trend at the minute, so if you don’t want to go all about you could just have a little [crochet] bag to put your things in.
Head to anniestirk.com to learn more about the campaign to reclaim the fashion industry.
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