To The Fashion Industry That Forgot Who Made It: We Are Breaking Up With You

You treat us like ghosts because you’re afraid of ghosts. You should be.

Dear Fashion Industry,

I remember the first time I fell in love with fashion. It wasn't about a label. It was about the possibility of it.

I fell in love with the way a coat could make you walk taller. The way a dress could announce you before you even spoke. Fashion, at its best, was a language. It was how we told the world who we intended to be, but lately? Lately, I walk into a department store, check out the tone deaf fashion houses' shows, or scroll the "It Bags" of the seasonal influencers, and I don't feel possibility.

I feel insulted. We feel insulted.

We need to talk about the elephant in the room. The luxury fashion industry is currently treating the woman of the world, specifically the woman over 35, like a bad ex-boyfriend does.

They want our money, our attention, and our time, but they don't want to be seen in public with us.

They raise prices by 40% while the stitching falls apart after two wears. They cheat and lie about making things "in house" while the yes girl in China works twenty hours to make them happy. They chase the attention of teenagers on TikTok who treat clothes like disposable napkins, while ignoring the women who have actually built the careers to afford the craftsmanship.

And then, there is the silence. The moral rot. We see the headlines. We see the CEOs and the Creative Directors on "The List." We see the absolute detachment from reality. They sit in their ivory towers, forgetting the oldest rule of civilization: The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

We brought you into this world. We earned the money you covet. We built the culture you exploit, and you have the audacity to make us feel "invisible"?

The research says that women start feeling "invisible" to the fashion industry as early as age 36. That we feel dismissed in retail stores. That we feel erased from the magazines, but let me offer you a different perspective. A "New Face" perspective.

They don't ignore us because we don't matter. They ignore us because we intimidate them.

A 19-year-old is easy to sell to. She is still figuring out who she is. She is vulnerable to the algorithm. She will buy the bag because an influencer told her it would make her "worthy."

But, a 40-year-old woman? A 50-year-old woman? You can't sell her "worthiness." She already earned it. She knows who she is, and she remembers what you put her through. You can't trick her with a logo; she checks the lining. She checks the values of the company. She remembers when quality meant something.

We aren't invisible.

We are walking through this world with the accumulated wisdom of decades, the purchasing power of a small nation, and a bullshit detector that is calibrated to perfection.

So, this is the breakup letter.

We are done performing for an industry that has made it loud and clear that it despises us. We are done apologizing for wanting quality. We are done feeling "lucky" to be sold an overpriced, unethical product. We are done seeing our daughters and granddaughters being sold the same propaganda we were.

We are taking our attention back. We are taking our money back. And, we are redirecting it to the small brands, the makers, the indie creators, and the independent media that understand one simple truth:

Aspiration is not about looking young. It is about living fully.

If you want to find us, don't look on the runway. Look in the mirror. Look at the women building businesses, raising families, reinventing their lives, and holding the world together.

We are building our own table, and the seating chart is strictly for those who have done the work.

Welcome to the era of Standards.

No f*cks were harmed in the creation of this.

Chele, founder & editor in chief of New Face Magazine