Getting older, feeling younger
16th January 2006 17:09

Having recently passed a milestone birthday – the one where “life begins…” as the saying goes – it’s good to know that despite what the mirror says, I am effectively getting younger. My logic? Well “Fifty is the NEW Thirty-Five” is the title of a marketing conference being held in New York City next week, and I’ll certainly buy into that!

Event organiser AAFA (the American Apparel & Footwear Association) points out that today’s Baby Boomers – and upper income “Zoomers” – have an annual spending power exceeding US$2tn. Just as important is the fact that as consumers, they increasingly care about how they look and how they dress.

Although I’ve got a long while to go before I hit 50, the same sentiment – the need to look and feel great whatever we’re doing – applies to my generation. We’re very different from our parents at the same stage of their lives, and it’s not just consumer-driven in that we spend more money. We’re more complex and aware of our choices (we probably have more choices) and we use this information wisely rather than frivolously. And I think we feel we can make a contribution or even a difference to others and the environment in which we live. And as this is an apparel blog, the natural extension is that this translates to how we shop for clothes.

So any help that’s available for manufacturers and retailers to tune into these new-found sentiments has to be good news.

US: Conference to explore ‘boomers and zoomers’

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