River Island to launch 40+ fashion.

[SheWoreRedVelvet]

Anyone else seen this in the media today? Can't do links but the few pieces I saw looked really good.

rediscovering themselves baby boomers

I thought Baby Boomers were born immediately post WW2?

What is 40+ fashion, then?

Is it as overpriced and poor quality as the rest of their shit, only frumpier?

Just seen the photos. It looks very... sweaty.

I like the classic white shirt. Not the rest of it though. And most of the coats look really cheap and a bit frumpy.

Nothing grabbing my attention! All looks a bit naff to me.

Gen X and proud of it, thankyouverymuch

The clothes are not my thing either, but then I don't think I've shopped in River Island since it was Chelsea Girl!

Ha! Was just about to mention Chelsea Girl! Oh, the white skirt a la Wham 'Wake Me Up' video. Don't fancy a line aimed at what I 'should' buy...

I like River Island but hate all of these. Funky hemlines, frilly details, interesting sleeves. It’s very Per Una. I’ll be 50 next year and the only piece here I would wear is the biker jacket at the end.

River Island Global Holdings is to launch a new online womenswear brand to cater to a group of women who have “predominantly been ignored on the high street”.

So they create a new brand for a demographic being ignored on the high street, and make it online only.

And the target market is 40+ women. How many of the models in those pictures are over 40?

It’s frumpy. No thanks.

Also Harpenne is a terrible name!

So like their normal stuff only less fashionable and more expensive?

Errr...appealing.

Horrible stuff - dodgy cardigans and "whacky" prints, no doubt all in polyester. OK, am at the high end of the demographic (55) but wouldn't wear it.

Harpenne makes me think of herpes.

Hideous clothes. Awful concept. I'm mid 40s and no WAY do I want to buy stuff aimed specifically at the over 40s.

Fuck off!

They already own Mint Velvet so isn’t it a similar dermographic?

I have got the odd thing in the last few years from RI, mostly ‘going out’ tops but I am trying to steer away from that sort of shopping. The girlswear stuff is beyond horrendous.

How utterly fucking depressing - it’s an awful idea, naff cheap looking dull clothes and a mind blowingly patronising concept.

I’m 47 & still perfectly capable of putting together an outfit without some clearly style free marketing team telling me which section I should be shopping in! I really hope that collection fails spectacularly, I’m fairly certain it will.

As for calling women 40+ ‘baby boomers’, what brainless twat did that?! Most baby boomers are in their late 60’s or 70’s & also won’t appreciate that condescending twaddle the marketing team have spewed up either.

The River Island statement “Tapping into a lifestyle of women who are rediscovering themselves” - really?! I don’t need re-discovering, I’m not lost down the back of a sofa & I even if I did need to ‘re-discover’ I can still decide all by myself what to wear thanks & it won’t be their frumpy clothes that’s for sure!

Basically, yep, I agree - they can fuck right off!

'Women of all ages can feel confident' patronising drivel and woefully misguided. I'm not 80. Clothes look like more of the same cheap fabrics already on sale in most British high st shops. This is a huge contributing factor in their demise IMO

I think the official youngest baby boomers are 56 - always think the youngest and oldest (74) bb’s must have little in common.
I have bought a couple of great bits from RI despite being well over 40. I was cross that they don’t do exchanges without a receipt. Think I’ve been spoilt by the majority of shops that have no problem with this.

I’m feeling a bit dubious about the shiny leggings in a few of those photos.
Looks a bit like PVC. Not the sort of thing the 40 somethings wear around here.

Ewww what an awful collection. Perhaps I’m in need of rediscovering myself though?

Oh dear.

I’m always seeing ‘Where can I shop now I’m 40?’ threads on here so in theory they should have a market. But I hope they know their high street history because they’re not the first store to try this. The others failed - in my opinion - because they treated older women as a uniform group when in fact we don’t really agree on anything.

40 is also an odd age to start at. Ageing doesn’t normally set in properly until after the menopause. If they don’t realise that and they haven’t even researched who the baby boomers then are it doesn’t bode well.

You are right Floisme when I was 40 I still fairly confident about clothes and what suited me, where to shop etc. But it’s now that I’m in my 50s that I’m struggling more.

Their stuff is vile gaudy polyester crap so like above if it’s nothing like what they currently sell I’ll have a look

Purple snakeskin plastic shirt🤮
Hotchpotch dresses🤮
Asymmetric hemlines🤮
Itchy grey jumper with weird front that would just drive you mad🤮
Horrid black jumper which looks to tight on the model, with random zip and criss cross stuff on🤮
Horrible stripe carpet dress🤮

Yuk. I’m 55😧. When you’ve gone through the menopause, your skin gets more itchy and sensitive. Mine is itching just looking at them.

My best shops are H and M, Cos, Other Stories and Uniqlo.