Is style becoming a stronger driver than age?

A survey conducted by Emotional Logic revealed that some style icons appeal to women across all age groups. Dame Helen Mirren was chosen as inspiring role model by women from their early 20s to their sixties. Other celebrities whose style was admired by a wide range of age groups include Kate Moss, Eva Longoria, Sienna Miller, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie. However, there were also some celebrities which polarised the age groups.

The most admired style icon still remains, unsurprisingly, Audrey Hepburn. Other classic stars such as Marilyn Monroe and Rita Hayworth also made the list. All three overcame age barriers and showed appeal to women from their 20s to their 60s.

The average age of the style icon chosen was 30 years for women under 40 and 36 for women over 40. This is due to the fact that women of all ages look for style inspiration from celebrities as varied as Fearne Cotton and Dame Helen Mirren, but older consumers (over 40) tend to slightly increase the number of older celebrities included in their favourites list.

Generally women of all ages look to celebrities of all ages for style inspiration. And the average age of style icons may be more influenced by the fact that there are more women in their 30s in the media than women over 40.

Interestingly, not all celebrities have cross-age appeal. Goldie Hawn for example, who is the same age group as Helen Mirren, was the top three style icon for women over 40 but did not even make it on to the list for under 40s.

Similarly, whilst Fearne Cotton was chosen by both over and under 40s consumers, Rihanna and Gwen Stefani were only chosen by the under 40s.

Some celebrities who are in their 40s and 50s, such as Sarah Jessica Parker, Meg Ryan and Lucy Liu actually showed a much stronger appeal to the under 40s than to women of their own age. Whilst Lily Allen and Victoria Beckham, representing women in their 20s and 30s showed more appeal to consumers over 40 than the younger age groups.

One may ask – and where is Madonna in all of this? The ageless chameleon of style? Madonna made it into the top 20 overall – but was only chosen by women over 40, where she was number 10.

From this research, we would conclude that women admire a style that is true to their own values – whether they prefer classic, sophisticated looks or a more radical, edgy style they will feel drawn to celebrities who perfect that style – whether those celebrities are 25 or 65.

The research has also shown the allure and mystique that Hollywood used to build around its celebrities in its heyday – like Audrey Hepburn and Rita Hayworth – is still working strong today. In those days movies such as 'Breakfast at Tiffany’s' and 'Gilda' showcased the fashion of the time and encapsulated as well as set new trends. How many movies today create new fashion trends or key 'looks'?

We know that choosing the right celebrity associated with your brand can have a strong impact on which age groups this may be effective with – and this research has shown it is by no means the case that a celebrity in their 20s will appeal to people in their 20s – they may have a broader appeal than that or they may actually attract older age groups more than younger ones. Testing for appeal is critical to ensuring the correct target demographic is being reached.