Why Jeff Goldblum Is The Ultimate Fashion Zaddy
Is silver fox casting a lesson in how to age gracefully?
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As the models we see in the media, in advertising, across our social media feeds and in the glossy pages of magazines get younger and younger, it seems as if youth will always rule the fashion realm. But with Jeff Goldblum and Kyle MacLachlan walking the Prada AW22 runway, Steve Buscemi starring in a campaign for Kith’s Spring 2022 collection, Oscar Isaac getting the internet all hot and bothered with behind-the-scenes images from Scenes From a Marriage and Steve Harvey on the cover of Paper magazine in custom Balenciaga, a fashionable shift is well and truly underway.
Lately older men and silver haired foxes are having a comeback, exuding a sense of confidence and that little something extra younger generations seem to lack. Fashion has always been obsessed with the idea of eternal youth; designers, stylists, photographers, editors and everyone in-between have been known to embody this through the images they create and the models they cast. But as fashion finally embraces older age and we see figures that are celebrated for their enduring appeal, can zaddies lead the charge?
The rise of the fashion zaddy
Have you heard Ty Dolla $igns 2016 song Zaddy? Well if you haven’t, now it’s on your radar - you’re welcome. Ageing like a fine wine is something I think everyone hopes to achieve later on in life, and there's currently an appreciation of handsome older gentlemen gracing our presence that suggests fashion's chokehold on imitating youth is on its way out. The AW22 runways - in which zaddies took over - reflect a changing of the guard. For a long time fashion has sidelined older consumers, but pop culture seems to be embracing and accepting all things zaddy.
Definition of a zaddy: a sexually attractive man, especially an older one who is fashionable or charismatic.
The rise of the fashion zaddy isn’t down to any one man in particular, but if it was I'd put my money on Jeff Goldblum. I haven’t come across a zaddy quite like Goldblum, a man who dresses with confidence but someone who also reminds his captive audience that you don’t have to take yourself too seriously. Who doesn’t love a Jeff fashion moment? With the help of longtime stylist Andre Thomas Vottero his eccentric look - think crushed velvet shirts, sleek suits, stand-out Prada shirts and playful footwear - has cemented his place within fashion circles as a zaddy extraordinaire.
Where once zaddies may have been unusual and unheard of, fast forward to the current fashion season and they’re everywhere. But is this a real moment of change, or is it just another way for brands to capitalise on a market they didn’t consider serving? Aime Leon Dore is a brand that does things and just does things right - their intergenerational FW21 “Worlds Borough” campaign shows how you can marry old with young, and do it so well it's no big deal. Cross-generational representation across fashion seems like common sense, but it isn’t being done enough.
The age of the ‘Greynnasiance’
Fashion has never really looked to older age as something to be celebrated, but the focus on youth is beginning to wear thin. Revolve and American Eagle have a habit of focusing on using youth culture, but is the fountain of youth really the answer in an industry where older people actually have more spending power? Celine featured an 82-year-old Joan Didion in a 2015 campaign when Phoebe Philo was at the helm (all hail Phoebe), Joni Mitchell has been the face of Saint Laurent and Jane Fonda and Helen Mirren have both modelled for L’Oreal - the age of the ‘Greynnaisance’ is very much now.
The instagram account @advancedstyle is run by photographer and creator Ari Seth Cohen, it features street style shots of adults your grandparents age taking to the streets of New York showing off their garms. The fashion industry’s institutional ageism and sidelining of older people isn’t truly representative of the complete way ageing men and women experience fashion, and accounts like Cohen’s show a whole new side to an overlooked cohort - sometimes seeing really is believing.
Ageing in itself is a privilege; it shows a life well lived and there's a certain sense of satisfaction in getting older and finding yourself more. As high fashion brands and the luxury sector recognise youth isn’t the be-all and end-all, older age representation in fashion can give people a wider range of inspirational and aspirational figures to admire. In an industry that can offer a sense of hope, can creating new fashion moments that bridge generational gaps become the norm?
The appeal of the silver fox
Nostalgia, fauxstalgia, tapping cultural icons from the past and the rise of the fashion zaddy is creating some pretty cool cultural iconography that appeals to older audiences while captivating the minds - and attention spans - of the young. I mean, doesn’t the popularity of Fezco’s grandma in Euphoria show the appeal of giving a platform to an individual that ages like fine wine? I kind of want in on that action if I’m honest.
The pleasures of adulthood, and the appeal of silver foxes, allows people to look beyond the youthful faces they’re so used to seeing towards figures that have managed to get more spicy as time goes on. When it comes to high fashion, to remain in the good books of the youth while not alienating older clientele, embrace zaddies and older icons for the prestige and power they represent. In the world of fashion there's a little term that says having “a fashion moment”, and silver foxes are very much doing just that right now.
Fashion transcends generations, style and passion isn’t restricted to being a young person's game and figures like Goldblum prove that age is no hindrance in knowing how to dress well and doing so with a sense of fun and adventure. Older adults don’t get so hung up on what people think about them, their outfits, and their whole vibe in general, and isn’t there a certain beauty in not giving a damn about what anyone else thinks?
What do you think of zaddies and their enduring appeal? How does cross-generational representation in fashion change your attitude towards clothing?
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And Jeff Goldblum is from Pittsburgh too!