In Fashion Right Now, the Old Ones Are the Best
By Lauren CochraneFashion, as anyone who works in it knows, is all about the new. So, when it comes to those who symbolise any new moment — whether in advertising campaigns or on magazine covers — youth dominates. Or does it? That has shifted recently — with the drive to find the latest bright young thing replaced by the lure of something else: the legend. Whether that’s 59-year-old Goldie on the cover of The Face, or Soho regulars in the new Alexander McQueen campaign, here’s how seasoned faces became the newest trend in fashion.
What counts as a legend?
Not every one with a few prized wrinkles or impressive CV can be a legend. They can be a household name — Goldie, Maggie Smith in the Loewe campaign in 2023, Ray Winstone and Kate Moss for Perfect magazine — or they can be a highbrow reference, like New Yorker writer Patrick Radden Keefe for J Crew. Ideally they need an incongruity – whether through an unexpected combo and face and brand (Smith), the reintroduction of a favourite who had been out of the limelight (Goldie) or IYKYK reference (Radden Keefe). That way, the desired buzz comes to a brand.
When did this trend start?
There’s long been a love of legends as a way to get people talking. A notable example might be Yves Saint Laurent’s 1971 advert for Pour Homme, where the designer himself — 35 at the time, so basically ancient for a youth-obsessed industry — posed naked. A more recent example is Celine’s 2015 ad campaign under Phoebe Philo, which featured an 80-year-old Joan Didion in dark glasses and a polo neck. 10 years later, Philo is — as usual — proving prescient.
Who is fashion’s favourite legend?
If the supermodels of the nineties are still booked and busy, one rises above them all — Miss Naomi Campbell. The London-born model, now 55 and with her own exhibition at the V&A, is a cross-generational icon (yes, that much-overused word is valid here). In the past year, she has walked for mega brands (Burberry) and rising stars (Duran Lantink) and starred on covers for i-D (she was one of three covers for the relaunch in March) and — most recently — Dazed.
Who are the legends we might not know?
As well as Radden Keefe for J Crew, there’s Alexander McQueen’s latest campaign features ‘Soho George’, jazz musician George Skeggs, who is a local celebrity in W1, while Edward Buchanan, Bottega Veneta’s first ever design director, features in the first ad campaign for Louise Trotter’s tenure at the brand. Sometimes these references can go even deeper — see the Aries x Arsenal collab that came out last year. It featured Clive Palmer, the host of popular fan podcast, Arsenal Vision, and a legend of the fanbase.
What does a legend bring?
Any IYKYK references, as per above, adds intrigue and authenticity to brands — somehow this translates even if the person viewing them doesn’t know who the subjects are. As for the A-listers, they might seem like a safe choice to go for over a new talent but a legend cuts through in a way a model or an influencer might not. In our atomised world, those choices appeal to some but they don’t gain mass recognition. For that, you need a kind of blue chip star power. Enter – the legend.
What’s the shelf life of the legend?
Judging by the ripples across the internet that legend moments can bring, they’re not going anywhere any time soon. What might be on the rise, however, is a mix of young and old. The Face has taken this tack, with Goldie’s cover dropping at the same time as one for Cortisa Star, a 19-year-old rapper who went viral on TikTok. There’s also i-D’s relaunch, which featured Campbell, alongside FKA Twigs and Enza Khoury, a teenager from Ohio who had never modelled before. As the magazine stated at the time, “nothing cool ever happens unless you dive into the unknown.”
Let’s see how that pans out for the rest of 2025.
Lauren Cochrane is Senior Fashion Writer of The Guardian and contributes to publications including The Face, ELLE, Service95, Konfekt and Mr Porter. Based in London, she writes about everything from catwalk shows to footballers’ style and the linguistics of Love Island. She is author of The Ten: The Stories Behind the Fashion Classics.
You can read all of Lauren’s writing on Something Curated here. Header photo: Jeanloup Sieff / Parfums Yves Saint Laurent.